Who We Are
The Implementation Science and Practice Advances Research Center (iSPARC) is a Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) Research Center of Excellence (CoE) located within the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UMass Chan Medical School. Under the leadership of Center Director Dr. Megan Kelly and Deputy Director Dr. Kathryn Sabella, our vision is to improve lives and strengthen communities by advancing behavioral health services and systems.
Our Mission
iSPARC promotes the recovery and quality of life of individuals with behavioral health conditions across the lifespan. We partner with individuals, support networks, and community groups to conduct innovative research, provide implementation support, and disseminate promising and evidence-based practices. Our mission is to improve behavioral health systems and services and advance public knowledge.
iSPARC Faculty & Staff
iSPARC is home to investigators from the UMass Chan Medical School Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences & Population & Quantitative Health Sciences (PQHS). Our PQHS partners contribute expertise in implementation research and public health research conducted by and for communities that have long been underrepresented as beneficiaries of evidence-based and promising services.
Our Faculty are nationally and internationally recognized for their research in:
- Psychosocial intervention development
- Implementation science
- Public services and supports
- Clubhouse and vocational rehabilitation models
- Forensic/legal and human rights issues
- Child, parent, and family mental health
- Transition-age youth/young adults
- Perinatal mental health
- Deaf mental health and addiction treatment
Internal to UMass Chan, we collaborate with investigators embedded in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Population & Quantitative Health Sciences, Family Medicine & Community Health, Preventive & Behavioral Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Emergency Medicine, and forHealth Consulting (formerly known as Commonwealth Medicine).
External to UMass Chan, we partner with investigators from other UMass campuses, Boston University, as well as national and international institutions to optimize our resources. These relationships enable us to build a bigger and stronger iSPARC to help meet the many challenges faced by DMH, those served by DMH, and the Commonwealth more broadly.
Our Research
All research conducted by iSPARC faculty falls under the Public Mental Health and Implementation Research Program. For over 30 years, we have dedicated resources to the rapid translation of mental health services and implementation research into real-world practice. Today, our areas of research include:
- The DeafYES! Center for Deaf Empowerment and Recovery
- EMPOWERWork Program
- Family Resilience and Child Development Lab (FRCD)
- Hub for Applied Research Translation Program (HART)
- Law and Psychiatry Program
- Life Compass Research Program
- Lifeline for Families
- The National Collaborative For Implementation Support (NC-IS)
- Program for Clubhouse Research (PCR)
- The Suicide and Substance Use (SUS)
- Transitions to Adulthood Center for Research
