Christine Spadola

Christine Spadola holds a doctorate in Social Welfare and a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology, both from Florida International University (FIU), and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami. Dr. Spadola completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She conducted several community-based sleep research projects including adapting yoga and behavioral sleep interventions for use in low income communities and investigating sleep-related behavioral factors that contribute to suboptimal sleep outcomes among one of the largest, epidemiologic cohorts of African-Americans. During her fellowship, Dr. Spadola also completed specialized training in mixed methods research, clinical and translational research, biostatistics, and implementation science with the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center. Recently, Christine was awarded a health disparities enrichment award from Harvard University to present her research findings at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies.

Dr. Spadola is committed to mitigating barriers to achieving well-being among underserved populations. Her research interests span sleep and mental health promotion, substance abuse, and mindfulness. She uses qualitative and mixed methods research to better understand health disparities and to assess mind/body and behavioral interventions to promote health and wellness among marginalized populations.

Christine is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor who has over 15 years of clinical and behavioral research experience working with culturally diverse and at-risk populations. She has practiced clinically in both private practice and community settings, and has led bereavement groups in the Miami-Dade community for over a decade. She has worked extensively with vulnerable populations in areas surrounding sex work, drug use, and HIV. Additionally, Dr. Spadola is a passionate social work educator. She has taught both undergraduate and graduate social work students at FIU’s Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work and has guest lectured at several universities across the United States.