Jalie Tucker Ph.D., M.P.H.

Ryals 227

(205) 934-6020

Research Profile


Dr. Jalie A. Tucker is Professor in the Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Originally educated as a clinical psychologist (Vanderbilt University, 1979), she has been an active substance abuse researcher for over two decades and has received consistent extramural funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, including two research career development awards. In order to expand her psychology-based perspective, in 1998 Dr. Tucker obtained a M.P.H. degree in the Department of Healthcare Organization and Policy, UAB School of Public Health, and then joined the faculty in the Department of Health Behavior in January 2000. Her funded research program seeks to understand influences on help-seeking for substance-related problems, which is uncommon, and how successful problem resolution can occur through different pathways, including "natural" resolutions without interventions and resolutions that are facilitated by professional, self-help, and lay (social network) interventions. This work can inform the development of more appealing interventions that reach more persons at risk and that form a continuum of care that ranges from universal prevention to brief, low threshold interventions (including telehealth options) to clinical care. Her edited book, "Changing addictive behavior: Bridging clinical and public health strategies" (Tucker, Donovan, & Marlatt, 1999, Guilford Press), elaborates how public health and clinical approaches can be effectively coordinated in a system of care. Dr. Tucker was the first elected President of the Division on Addictions of the American Psychological Association (1993-94), is an editorial board member of numerous scientific journals, and is active in APA governance, including the Council of Representatives and the Board of Professional Affairs.