Gaba, Ayorkor L. (alg2276)

Psy.D., Clinical Psychology, Rutgers University

Certifications/Licensure: Licensed Psychologist, New York & New Jersey

Ayorkor Gaba, Psy.D., is an Assistant Professor of Counseling and Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University, founder of the Behavioral Health Equity Advancement Lab (B-HEAL) and Director of the Equity Division at the Massachusetts Center of Excellence for Specialty Courts. Her research focuses on people who use substances and have a co-occurring  mental health condition, particularly those involved in the criminal legal system, as well as the multilevel factors shaping inequities in behavioral health care and youth mental health. She serves as an editor for the Research, Community, and Services Partnerships column in Psychiatric Services and the Journal for Clinical and Translational Sciences. She is interested in questions about how to bridge the gap between research and practice, how to enhance the equitable implementation of behavioral health interventions and supports, and what gets lost when community perspectives, knowledge, and partnership are not centered in intervention development and implementation.

Friedmann, P. D., Wilson, D., Stopka, T. J., Bernson, D., Pivovarova, E., Ferguson, W., Hoskinson, R. A., Jr., Rottapel, R. E., Bovell-Ammon, B., Gaba, A., & Morgan, J. R. (2025). Medications for opioid use disorder in county jails—Outcomes after release. New England Journal of Medicine, 393(10), 994–1003. https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMsa2415987

Vigeant, T., Riddell, R., Ofosuhene, B., White, G., Montenario, M., Wang, Z., Orwig, T., Tatere, H. Y., Buchholz, B., Dunlap, D., McManus, D. D., Gaba, A., & Hafer, N. (2025). Evolving perceptions of point-of-care technologies: Results from a nationwide survey of healthcare professionals. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 9(1), e207. https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2025.10149

Gaba, A., Walter, A. W., & Pinals, D. A. (2024). Increasing equitable access to care for co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders (Publication No. PEP24-01-025). Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Enders FT, Golembiewski EH, Balls-Berry JE, Brooks TR, Carr AR, Cullen JP, DiazGranados D, Gaba A, Johnson L, Menser T, Messinger S, Milam AJ, Orellana MA, Perkins SM, Pineda TDC, Thurston SW, Periyakoil VS, Hanlon AL. (2024). Health equity engineering: Optimizing hope for a new generation of healthcare. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 8(1), e136. https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2024.549 

Gaba, A., Helm, A., Shaffer, P. M., Pridgen, B., Drawbridge, D., & Smelson, D. (2023). Community reentry: Racial/ethnic differences in unmet needs among adults with co-occurring opioid use and mental health disorder. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 91, 101924. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2023.101924 

Lenz, D., Willis, T., Gaba, A., Andre, M., Eineman, W., Newman, B., Kubiak, S., Pinals, D., & Smelson, D. (2023). Assessing the reentry needs of incarcerated individuals with co-occurring opioid use and mental health concerns. Offender Rehabilitation. https://doi.org/10.1080/10509674.2023.2261922

Gaba, A., LoVette, A., Pridgen, B., Taylor, M., Woodward, E., Rosal, M. C., Anderson, M., & Smelson, D. (2023). Identifying strategies to advance equitable implementation of co-occurring mental health and substance use disorder treatment in drug treatment courts: A study protocol. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 7(1), e80. https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2023.14 

Gaba, A., Shaffer, P. M., Andre, M., Pinals, D. A., Drawbridge, D., & Smelson, D. (2022). Racial and ethnic differences in behavioral health, criminal legal system involvement, and service needs among mental health court participants: Implications for service delivery. Psychological Services, 19(4), 637–647. https://doi.org/10.1037/ser0000669 

Posado-Rodriguez, C., Shaffer, P., Gaba, A., Drawbridge, D., & Smelson, D. (2022). Re-entry needs within a population with co-occurring opioid use and mental health disorders in Massachusetts prisons: Part of a plan to address the opioid epidemic. Health and Addictions Journal, 22(2), 244–254. https://doi.org/10.21134/haaj.v22i2.696

Gaba, A., Flores, R., Ward, M. R., & Pridgen, B. (2022). Addressing gender-based violence using evidence-based practices during COVID-19: The case of Puerto Rico. Violence Against Women, 28(8), 1736–1749. https://doi.org/10.1177/10778012221085999

Dixon, L. B., Lewis-Fernández, R., Isom, J., Bellamy, C., Gaba, A., Rossom, R. C., Adams, L., Legha, R. K., Carlo, A. D., Sokol, Y., Norquist, G. S., Roy, M., & Jackson, D. (2022). Reporting on and reviewing for race/racialization, ethnicity, and culture. Psychiatric Services, 73(5), 482–483. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.20220099

Leach, R., Carreiro, S., Shaffer, P. M., Gaba, A., & Smelson, D. (2021). Digital health interventions for mental health, substance use, and co-occurring disorders in the criminal justice population: A scoping review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 794785. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.794785

Shaffer, P. M., Rodriguez, C. P., Gaba, A., Byrne, T., Casey, S. C., Harter, J., & Smelson, D. (2021). Engaging vulnerable populations in drug treatment court: Six month outcomes from a co-occurring disorder wraparound intervention. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 76, 101700. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2021.101700 

Pinals, D. A., Gaba, A., Shaffer, P. M., Andre, M. A., & Smelson, D. A. (2021). Risk-need-responsivity and its application in behavioral health settings: A feasibility study of a treatment-planning support tool. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 39(1), 44–64. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2499

 Gaba, A., Sui, C., Kelsey, C., & David, S. (2021). Effects of concurrent substance use. In P. Corrigan & S. Ballentine (Eds.), Health and wellness in people living with serious mental illness. American Psychiatric Association Publishing. https://www.appi.org/Products/General-Interest/Health-and-Wellness-in-People-Living-With-Serious

Hayaki, J., Holzhauer, C. G., Epstein, E. E., Cook, S., Gaba, A., Lorenzo, A. C., & McCrady, B. S. (2020). Menstrual cycle phase, alcohol consumption, alcohol cravings, and mood among women in outpatient treatment for alcohol use disorder. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 34(6), 680–689. https://doi.org/10.1037/adb0000576

Smelson, D. A., Gaba, A., Pressman, K., Clary, K. M., Shaffer, P. M., & Pinals, D. A. (2020). Embedding a co-occurring disorders rehabilitation intervention in veterans courts: A pilot study with male veterans. Community Mental Health Journal, 56(5), 970–977. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00565-z

Hanna, J., Kubiak, S., Pasman, E., Gaba, A., Andre, M., Smelson, D., & Pinals, D. A. (2020). Evaluating the implementation of a prisoner re-entry initiative for individuals with opioid use and mental health disorders: Application of the consolidated framework for implementation research in a cross-system initiative. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 108, 104–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2019.06.012

Jaipal, R., & Gaba, A. (2020). Human rights seen through a cultural lens: Perspectives from Africa and Asia. In N. Rubin & R. Flores (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of psychology and human rights. Cambridge University Press.

Pinals, D. A., Gaba, A., Clary, K. M., Barber, J., Reiss, J., & Smelson, D. (2019). Implementation of MISSION-Criminal Justice in a treatment court: Preliminary outcomes among individuals with co-occurring disorders. Psychiatric Services, 70(11), 1044–1048. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201800570

Olmstead, T. A., Graff, F. S., Ames-Sikora, A., McCrady, B. S., Gaba, A., & Epstein, E. E. (2019). Cost-effectiveness of individual versus group female-specific cognitive behavioral therapy for alcohol use disorder. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 100, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2019.02.001

Shaffer, P., Gaba, A., Stefan, S., Emily, S., & David, S. (2019). Treatment needs and gender differences among clients entering a rural drug treatment court with a co-occurring disorder. Drug Court Review, 3.

Epstein, E. E., McCrady, B. S., Hallgren, K. A., Gaba, A., Cook, S., Jensen, N., Hildebrandt, T., Holzhauer, C. G., & Litt, M. D. (2018). Individual versus group female-specific cognitive behavior therapy for alcohol use disorder. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 88, 27–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2018.02.003

Asanbe, C., Gaba, A., & J., Y. (2018). Examining mental health from the framework of human rights. Psychology International, 29(10).

Grosso, J. A., Epstein, E. E., McCrady, B. S., Gaba, A., Cook, S., Backer-Fulghum, L. M., & Graff, F. S. (2013). Women’s motivators for seeking treatment for alcohol use disorders. Addictive Behaviors, 38(6), 2236–2245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2013.02.004

Hunt, K. A., Gaba, A., & Lavizzo-Mourey, R. (2005). Racial and ethnic disparities and perceptions of health care: Does health plan type matter? Health Services Research, 40(2), 551–576. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6773.2005.00372.x

Coups, E. J., Gaba, A., & Orleans, C. T. (2004). Physician screening for multiple behavioral health risk factors. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 27(2 Suppl), 34–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2004.04.021