Alison Giovanelli, PhD
Assistant Professor
Pediatrics
School of Medicine

Alison (Allie) Giovanelli, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in Pediatrics - Adolescent Medicine at UCSF. She completed her PhD in a joint program in Clinical and Developmental Psychology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and her clinical internship at Stanford University School of Medicine/The Children's Health Council.

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Allie is experienced in evaluation and treatment of a range of mental health concerns in both children and adults, and she has particular expertise in adolescent mental health, early childhood development, the impacts of early adversity such as abuse and neglect (including impacts of ACEs), and the treatment of youth anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, and Substance Use Disorders (SUDs). From 2019 to 2023, she was the lead psychologist in the Youth Outpatient Substance Use Program (YOSUP) in the Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine Clinic, where she facilitated caregiver education and support groups, conducts brief targeted consultations relating to mental health and substance use, and lead a pilot study of group Community Reinforcement and Family Training (CRAFT) with caregivers of adolescents with SUDs who were not engaged in treatment.

Her research focuses on adolescent and young adult substance use and leveraging technology for intervention in common adolescent mental health problems as well as investigating the potential impacts of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence on adolescent and young adult mental and behavioral health. She is currently the Principal Investigator on a study of the impacts of THC potency of cannabis concentrates and THC metabolism on cognitive impairment in young adults.

Alison has published many articles in peer-reviewed journals, with first-author publications in Pediatrics, Preventive Medicine, Development and Psychopathology, JAMA Network Open, and the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Awards

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  • Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, University of Minnesota, 2017
  • Doris Duke Fellowship for the Promotion of Child Well-Being, Chapin Hall, University of Chicago, 2016
  • Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), National Science Foundation, 2013
  • Warner Brown Memorial Prize in Psychology, UC Berkeley, 2010

Education & Training

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  • Postdoctoral Fellowship Adolescent Health UCSF 11/2021
  • Predoctoral Residency Clinical Psychology Stanford University School of Medicine/The Children's Health Council 06/2018
  • PhD Child Development and Clinical Psychology University of Minnesota Twin Cities 06/2018
  • BA Psychology University of California, Berkeley 05/2010

Websites

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Publications (25)

Top publication keywords:
TechnologyIncomePreventive Health ServicesAdolescent Health ServicesCrimeAdolescent BehaviorFamily RelationsHealth PromotionHealth BehaviorPovertyPoverty AreasSchoolsChild AbuseChicagoAdolescent Health

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