Lauren Scroggs

Lauren Scroggs is a behavioral health researcher at RTI. She has experience investigating mental health and substance use disorders (SUDs), tobacco regulatory science, veteran health, adolescent risk behaviors, and biofeedback. She has been a key investigative team member on several projects exploring novel approaches to health promotion and harm reduction and uses her clinical experience working with different populations to guide her research. Dr. Scroggs currently serves as the lead clinical supervisor on the Mental Illness Calibration Study—a substudy of the National Study on Drug Use and Health—and is an analyst on the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being.

Prior to joining RTI in 2022, Dr. Scroggs completed her postdoctoral training at the Center for Addiction Science and Technology at Duke University. Her postdoctoral research was focused on FDA- and NIDA-funded clinical research in tobacco regulatory science and tobacco use disparities among individuals with comorbid psychiatric and health-related issues. She has a strong clinical background and experience working with a diverse patient population, including individuals with SUDs, trauma-related disorders, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, individuals in recovery, and patients that are in court mandated treatment and on federal probation. She has worked as a mental health care provider in a variety of settings (free mental health clinic, hospital/Level 1 Trauma Center, university, outpatient substance use treatment program, and private practice) conducting both individual and group therapy sessions. 

She is a Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist and Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in the state of North Carolina, with additional specialized training in psychotherapeutic interventions for trauma, rehabilitation, military populations, suicide prevention, substance misuse, and applied psychophysiology and biofeedback.