Melissa J. Zielinski
Associate Professor
Also affiliated: University of Arkansas Medical Center (2016–2017); Psychiatric Medical Center (2021–2022); Arkansas Department of Health (2020); College of New Jersey (2011–2015)
Faculty Researcher
PSY Psychiatry, College of Medicine
Research Areas
Biomedical Subjects
Links
Biography and Research Information
OverviewAI-generated summary
Melissa J. Zielinski’s research focuses on the connections between trauma, mental health, substance use, and engagement with the criminal legal system. As the director of the Health and the Legal System Lab (HEALS Lab) at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, she leads a team dedicated to expanding access to trauma recovery services within correctional facilities, drug courts, and crime victim services. The lab's work investigates effective intervention strategies, treatment implementation in legal settings, and the promotion of sustained recovery.
Dr. Zielinski has secured significant funding for her research from agencies including the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Arnold Ventures, and the Department of Justice. Her federal grant portfolio totals over $2.8 million, with awards supporting translational research in addiction, implementation science for trauma treatment in correctional settings, and the development and testing of care pathways for opioid use disorder and PTSD in jails. Her scholarly contributions are reflected in an h-index of 18, with over 1,100 citations across 88 publications. She actively collaborates with researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, evidenced by numerous shared publications.
Research Overview
Dr. Zielinski’s research centers on the intersections between trauma, mental health, substance use, and involvement with the criminal legal system. She directs the Health and the Legal System Lab (HEALS Lab), a diverse group of scholars and clinical trainees that are dedicated to making trauma recovery services available in legal settings like prisons, jails, drug courts, and crime victim service settings. HEALS Lab’s cutting-edge science is helping to identify how to best intervene, how to get treatments that work in to these systems, and how to promote long-term recovery. This work has been supported by a variety of funders including the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Arnold Ventures, and the Department of Justice. Our clinical trainees and director also provide evidence-based therapy groups directly to maximize our immediate impact.
Metrics
- h-index: 18
- Publications: 88
- Citations: 1,145
Selected Publications
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Stakeholder Perspectives on Long-Acting Injectable PrEP and MOUD: A Descriptive Qualitative Study (2026)
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Centering the client in PTSD treatments: Commentary on Rubenstein et al. (2024). (2026)
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Gatekeeping Wellbeing: Healthcare Copayments While Incarcerated as a Barrier to Good Health (2025)
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Increased risk of non-fatal overdose associated with broad adverse childhood experiences among people who use drugs in New York City: a latent class analysis (2025)
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Health service needs, use, and barriers among formerly incarcerated women survivors of sexual violence (2025)
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A qualitative analysis of formerly incarcerated women’s perspectives on a prison-based perinatal support program (2025)
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Treatment Works, Behaviors Change: Investigating the Impact of Trauma Focused Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder on Disciplinary Infractions Among Women in Prison (2025)
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The Arkansas Crisis Stabilization Study: Health Service Utilization and Jail Booking Outcomes of a Longitudinal Cohort (2025)
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256 Identifying causes of parenting stress among postpartum mothers receiving medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) (2025)
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Community-driven strategies for implementing suicide prevention education in jails. (2025)
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The COVID Shift: Comparing Hybrid Telehealth to In-Person Group Therapy for Incarcerated Women Survivors of Sexual Violence Victimization (2025)
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A Novel Exploration of Women’s Pathways Through Prison and the Roles of Trauma, Addiction, and Mental Health (2025)
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Is Sharing One’s Personal Story of Victimization Preferred? Incarcerated Women’s Perspectives on Group Treatment for Sexual Trauma (2024)
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Arkansas crisis stabilization unit guests: Baseline characteristics from a longitudinal cohort study. (2024)
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Mental Health, Drug Use, and Programming: Applying a Needs Assessment Framework in Arkansas’ Largest Jail (2024)
Federal Grants 5 $2,823,707 total
Effectiveness, Implementation, and Cost of Cognitive Processing Therapy in Prisons
Developing and Testing Innovative Care Pathways for Screening and Treatment of OUD/PTSD in Jails
Developing and Testing Innovative Care Pathways for Screening and Treatment of OUD/PTSD in Jails
Leveraging Implementation Science to Increase Access to Trauma Treatment for Incarcerated Drug Users
Grants & Funding
As listed on this researcher's institutional profile. Federal awards with verified records are shown above.
- NOTRE: optimiziNg long-acting prep and mOud inTerventions in caRceral sEttings NIH/Nat. Inst. on Drug Abuse via Duke University Principal Investigator
- Determination of antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory and chymase inhibitory efficacy of sweet potato and rice bran extract US Department of Agriculture via University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Principal Investigator
- ABI P. Prather NIH T32 FY26 Y3 State of Arkansas Principal Investigator
- Parents and Children Together (PACT) Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration Principal Investigator
- The Arkansas Crisis Stabilization Study Arnold Ventures Principal Investigator
- Arkansas Building Capacity for Women’s Justice-Health PCOR/CER Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Principal Investigator
- Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner Network for Evidence-based Telemedicine (SAFE-NET) US Dept of Justice - Office for Victims of Crime Co-Investigator
- ABI C. OBrien NIH COBRE FY26 Y4 State of Arkansas Principal Investigator
- Lifespan/Brown Criminal Justice Research Training Program on Substance Use and HIV NIH/Nat. Inst. on Drug Abuse via Miriam Hospital Principal Investigator
- Rural Stakeholders Building Competence and Capacity to Mitigate Pressing Mental Health Issues through CER Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute via Northern Neck Health, Inc. Principal Investigator
- Arkansas Center for Health Disparities (ARCHD): An NIMHD COE NIH Co-Investigator
- Pregnancy and Postpartum Support Programs for Women in Prison: Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes NIH/Nat. Inst. of Child Health & Human Development via University of Minnesota Co-Investigator
- A Preliminary Economic Evaluation of the Pulaski County Regional Crisis Stabilization Unit (PCRCSU) NIH/Nat. Inst. on Drug Abuse via Weill Medical College of Cornell University Principal Investigator
Collaboration Network
Top Collaborators
- An integrative literature review of substance use treatment service need and provision to pregnant and postpartum populations in carceral settings
- A participant-randomized pilot hybrid II trial of group cognitive processing therapy for incarcerated persons with posttraumatic stress and substance use disorder symptoms: study protocol and rationale
- Implementation of group cognitive processing therapy in correction centers: Anticipated determinants from formative evaluation
- State Laws on Substance Use Treatment for Incarcerated Pregnant and Postpartum People
- Characteristics and Outcomes of Women and Infants Who Received Prenatal Care While Incarcerated in Arkansas State Prison System, 2014–2019
Showing 5 of 12 shared publications
- ‘You’re setting a lot of people up for failure’: what formerly incarcerated women would tell healthcare decision makers
- Factors Affecting Telemedicine Implementation in Emergency Departments and Nurses’ Perceptions of Virtual Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Consultation for Sexual Assault Survivors
- Implementation of group cognitive processing therapy in correction centers: Anticipated determinants from formative evaluation
- Justice-Involved, Sexually Victimized Women's Perspectives on the Acceptability of Receiving Trauma-Focused Therapy in Prison
- Community-driven strategies for implementing suicide prevention education in jails.
Showing 5 of 7 shared publications
- “I’m not alone, my story matters”: Incarcerated women’s perspectives on the impact and acceptability of group psychotherapy involving imaginal exposure to sexual assault memories
- Does Group Size Matter? Group Size and Symptom Reduction among Incarcerated Women Receiving Psychotherapy following Sexual Violence Victimization
- Is Sharing One’s Personal Story of Victimization Preferred? Incarcerated Women’s Perspectives on Group Treatment for Sexual Trauma
- To SHARE or not to SHARE: Exploring incarcerated women’s decisions about enrolling in exposure-based group therapy.
- The COVID Shift: Comparing Hybrid Telehealth to In-Person Group Therapy for Incarcerated Women Survivors of Sexual Violence Victimization
Showing 5 of 6 shared publications
- “I’m not alone, my story matters”: Incarcerated women’s perspectives on the impact and acceptability of group psychotherapy involving imaginal exposure to sexual assault memories
- Does Group Size Matter? Group Size and Symptom Reduction among Incarcerated Women Receiving Psychotherapy following Sexual Violence Victimization
- Is Sharing One’s Personal Story of Victimization Preferred? Incarcerated Women’s Perspectives on Group Treatment for Sexual Trauma
- To SHARE or not to SHARE: Exploring incarcerated women’s decisions about enrolling in exposure-based group therapy.
- The COVID Shift: Comparing Hybrid Telehealth to In-Person Group Therapy for Incarcerated Women Survivors of Sexual Violence Victimization
Showing 5 of 6 shared publications
- A participant-randomized pilot hybrid II trial of group cognitive processing therapy for incarcerated persons with posttraumatic stress and substance use disorder symptoms: study protocol and rationale
- An Economic Analysis of the Cost of a Regional Crisis Stabilization Unit
- Recommendations for conducting longitudinal studies with people who are justice involved
- Arkansas crisis stabilization unit guests: Baseline characteristics from a longitudinal cohort study.
- The Arkansas Crisis Stabilization Study: Health Service Utilization and Jail Booking Outcomes of a Longitudinal Cohort
- Recommendations for conducting longitudinal studies with people who are justice involved
- Justice-Involved, Sexually Victimized Women's Perspectives on the Acceptability of Receiving Trauma-Focused Therapy in Prison
- Arkansas crisis stabilization unit guests: Baseline characteristics from a longitudinal cohort study.
- The COVID Shift: Comparing Hybrid Telehealth to In-Person Group Therapy for Incarcerated Women Survivors of Sexual Violence Victimization
- Health service needs, use, and barriers among formerly incarcerated women survivors of sexual violence
- Policy and public communication methods among U.S. state prisons during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Community-driven strategies for implementing suicide prevention education in jails.
- COVID-19 highlights the pitfalls of reliance on the carceral system as a response to addiction
- To SHARE or not to SHARE: Exploring incarcerated women’s decisions about enrolling in exposure-based group therapy.
- An Economic Analysis of the Cost of a Regional Crisis Stabilization Unit
- Recommendations for conducting longitudinal studies with people who are justice involved
- Arkansas crisis stabilization unit guests: Baseline characteristics from a longitudinal cohort study.
- The Arkansas Crisis Stabilization Study: Health Service Utilization and Jail Booking Outcomes of a Longitudinal Cohort
- Evidence-Based Quality Improvement (EBQI) in the pre-implementation phase: key steps and activities
- Factors Affecting Telemedicine Implementation in Emergency Departments and Nurses’ Perceptions of Virtual Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Consultation for Sexual Assault Survivors
- A participant-randomized pilot hybrid II trial of group cognitive processing therapy for incarcerated persons with posttraumatic stress and substance use disorder symptoms: study protocol and rationale
- Implementation of group cognitive processing therapy in correction centers: Anticipated determinants from formative evaluation
- Mental Health, Drug Use, and Programming: Applying a Needs Assessment Framework in Arkansas’ Largest Jail
- Arkansas crisis stabilization unit guests: Baseline characteristics from a longitudinal cohort study.
- Community-driven strategies for implementing suicide prevention education in jails.
- The Arkansas Crisis Stabilization Study: Health Service Utilization and Jail Booking Outcomes of a Longitudinal Cohort
- Comparison of Teleintegrated Care and Telereferral Care for Treating Complex Psychiatric Disorders in Primary Care
- A participant-randomized pilot hybrid II trial of group cognitive processing therapy for incarcerated persons with posttraumatic stress and substance use disorder symptoms: study protocol and rationale
- Implementation of group cognitive processing therapy in correction centers: Anticipated determinants from formative evaluation
- An Economic Analysis of the Cost of a Regional Crisis Stabilization Unit
- Recommendations for conducting longitudinal studies with people who are justice involved
- Mental Health, Drug Use, and Programming: Applying a Needs Assessment Framework in Arkansas’ Largest Jail
- ‘You’re setting a lot of people up for failure’: what formerly incarcerated women would tell healthcare decision makers
- Perceived emotion invalidation predicts daily affect and stressors
- The Arkansas Crisis Stabilization Study: Health Service Utilization and Jail Booking Outcomes of a Longitudinal Cohort
- An integrative literature review of substance use treatment service need and provision to pregnant and postpartum populations in carceral settings
- Enhanced perinatal programs for people in prisons: A summary of six states' programs
- Mental Health, Drug Use, and Programming: Applying a Needs Assessment Framework in Arkansas’ Largest Jail
- ‘You’re setting a lot of people up for failure’: what formerly incarcerated women would tell healthcare decision makers
- Health service needs, use, and barriers among formerly incarcerated women survivors of sexual violence
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