Dr. Viktor Lushin is a post-doctoral research fellow at the Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research. He received his MD from Ivan Pavlov Medical School in St. Petersburg, Russia, developing interests in child/adolescent development and the study of workplace stress among mental health clinicians. He has worked as a physician focusing on adolescent behavioral health. After immigrating to the U.S., he continued his training in behavioral science and received his Ph.D. from New York University Silver School of Social Work, under the mentorship of James Jaccard, a prominent social and developmental psychologist. In parallel, Viktor has served as a behavioral therapist and supervisor in Early Intervention system for children with autism in New York. He has developed an interest in studying the role of stress and other barriers to the implementation of evidence based practices (EBP) in service systems for children with autism.

The goal of Dr. Lushin’s research is to expand our knowledge about modifiable psychological and physiological determinants of clinician behavior and to develop novel implementation strategies. His ongoing study of barriers to the use of evidence-based behavioral therapy in special education preschools for children with autism has highlighted the role of momentary stress for clinical decision-making. His pending K23 project is aimed at studying momentary stress among teachers in autism-support preschools, using digital technology. Additionally, he leads an ongoing research project examining social and cognitive barriers and facilitators for implementing evidence-based assessment (EBA) strategies by social work trainees.