A Brief History

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The Avielle Foundation was created in 2013 by Jennifer Hensel and Jeremy Richman after the death of their daughter Avielle, along with 25 of her peers and educators in the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. The Foundation emerged as a leader in building compassion and violence prevention by funding research, educational programs, events, and helping to train the next generation of scientists. The Avielle Foundation has benefited countless individuals and communities, especially those living in and around Newtown. The tragedy was further compounded by Jeremy’s death in 2019. To ensure Avielle’s name and legacy live on, the foundation formed a new partnership, with the University of Colorado, Anschutz Campus in 2020, establishing the Avielle Initiative, and now under the Brain and Behavior Innovation Center at CU Anschutz. The partnership between The partnership between CU Anschutz and the Avielle Foundation grew out of the recognition that our organizations approach work with deep passion, enduring hope, and unflinching dedication. We share a belief that real change can happen when organizations and communities work together to develop and implement science-driven solutions to promote brain health, create compassion and ultimately reduce violence. 

Avielle Initiative Seed Grant for Brain Health Research and Innovation 

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In 2023 the Brain and Behavior Innovation Center in the Department of Psychiatry launched the first annual call for proposal for the Avielle Initiative Seed Grant for Brain Health Research and Innovation. The grant supports cutting-edge brain health research across all stages of the translational science spectrum that will further Avielle’s legacy and goals of building compassion and/or preventing violence.

Applicant Eligibility & Application

The Jeremy Richman Brain Health Internship and Fellowship 

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We support the careers of young scientists through the endowment of the Jeremy Richman Brain Health Internship and Fellowship. Young scientists interested in brain health will inform the development of technology products and programs focused on building compassion and preventing violence. The internship will be awarded annually to an applicant of PURPLE whose interests and research activities align with and honor the mission of the Avielle Initiative. 

Applicant Eligibility & Application

Visit our page about the Avielle Initiative 

Support the Avielle Initiative Here

COMING SOON

COMING SOON

About Our Program

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The goal of the CIBH+ program is to increase access to behavioral health and psychiatry services for Medicaid patients at the Department of Family Medicine’s and CU Medicine’s Family Medicine practices. This approach is accomplished through virtual, and in-person integrated behavioral health services utilizing a hybrid model of in-person and virtual team-based care in collaboration with Department of Family Medicine, the Helen and Arthur E Johnson Depression Center (JDC), and the Department of Psychiatry.

Our program uses a model of a stepped-care approach (increasing behavioral health intervention matched with patient need) to behavioral health, offering on-site and tele-behavioral health screening, triage, assessment, and definitive management. These services are enhanced with tele-psychiatry, which provides psychiatric assessment, guidance, treatment planning, and consultation via phone, email, electronic health record review and videoconferencing to the on-sight team including both direct encounters (patient visits) and indirect encounters (provider to provider) collaborative consultation.

Our program also incorporates an evaluation component to determine outcomes of patient population, explore the cost benefits of the treatment program, how the treatment team interacts as a team, and overall patient experience.

Leadership Team

• Jay Shore, MD, MPH: Program Director

• Corey Lyon, DO: Medical Director 

   

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• Jodi Holtrop, PhD: Evaluation Director, Professor and Vice Chair for Research

• Jacqueline Calderone, MD: Associate Director of Psychiatric Services

• Shandra Brown Levey, PhD: Director, Psychology Externship,

• Shannon McWilliams, MA: Program Manager

Clinical Team 

Psychiatry Team 

• Debra Solomon, MD

• Lea Watson, MD

• Lucas Coppes, MD

• David Brown, MD

• Kaylin Klie, MD

• Jodi Zik, MD

• Olga Gorshkalova, MD

Psychology Team 

• Angelo Alago

• Sarah Beckmann

• Aaron Bergman

• Lynn Haley

• Gesa Kohlmeier

• Marisa Kostiuk

• Ryan Poling

• Christie Thrash

Evaluation Team 

Visit our page about CIBH+