Meet the Team

Dr. Alexis Garcia is a bilingual (fluent in Spanish) Clinical Psychologist who specializes in evidence-based treatments for children with disruptive behavior disorders. She received her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Florida International University with a specialty in child and adolescent psychology. She completed her predoctoral internship at MUSC within the Child Track. After internship, Dr. Garcia was selected to be a National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) postdoctoral fellow where she studied adolescent alcohol use. She joined the MUSC faculty as a Clinical Assistant Professor in July 2021.

As part of the MUSC Youth Collaborative, Dr. Garcia is involved in various research efforts to understand the role of self-regulation in problematic substance use during adolescence. Specifically, Dr. Garcia’s research endeavors focus on role of emotion dysfunction in adolescents with ADHD and how that relates to risk-taking behaviors like alcohol and other substance use. She is an active mentor of psychology interns and psychiatry fellows at MUSC.

Dr. Gex received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology (B.S.) from the College of Charleston, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Memphis, in Memphis, TN. She returned to Charleston to complete here predoctoral internship and postdoctoral training (NIDA T32) at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Gex joined the Addiction Sciences Division faculty in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences upon completion of her postdoctoral fellowship. She is a previous recipient of a NIDA K12 Career Development Award and a current awardee of a NIDA K23 Career Development Award.

Her research focuses on improving the efficacy of brief interventions for substance use prevention and early intervention to reduce substance use related harms and the risk of developing substance use disorders (SUDs), and to improve overall health outcomes across the lifespan. She is especially interested in understanding behavioral and intervention mechanisms that lead to increased motivation for behavior change among individuals who use cannabis. To this end, her work has incorporated qualitative and mixed methods to probe for candidate behavior change mechanisms specific to cannabis to inform the development of novel brief intervention targets to reduce problematic cannabis use.

Dr. Gex is also interested in sex/gender and age-related factors associated with cannabis use, such as motives and perceived severity of consequences, that may be leveraged to inform tailored brief interventions. She was awarded pilot funds from MUSC’s Specialized Center of Research Excellence (SCORE) on Sex and Gender Differences in Cannabis and Stress to explore these and other potential factors in a cross-sectional survey of over 300 community-dwelling adults who regularly use cannabis. Dr. Gex has training and experience in the application of behavioral economic theory to understanding substance use and addiction. Her current work also continues to explore behavioral economic indices as they relate to better understanding substance use across the lifespan and improving the efficacy of brief interventions for preventing problematic substance use."

Senior Mentor

After working with the team, Abby pursued a Clinical-Community Psychology Ph.D. at the University of South Carolina. 

After working with the team, Saima pursued a Clinical Science Ph.D. at Florida International University.

Program Coordinator

After working with the team, Dominique pursued a Clinical Psychology Ph.D. at the University of Alabama Birmingham.

After working with the team, Shamaya pursued a Health Sciences Nursing Degree at Cabarrus College.

Senior Mentor

After working with the team, Max pursued a Biomedical Science Ph.D. at the Medical University of South Carolina.

After working with the team, Chandler pursued a Masters Degree at the University of South Carolina. 

After working with the team, Dr. Fadus accepted a role as a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital.

After working with the team, Emma joined William & Mary University as a Research Compliance Analyst.

After working with the team, Tobias pursued an M.D./Ph.D. in the Medical Scientist Training Program at Northwestern University.

After working with the team, Dominic pursued a Masters in Health Administration at the University of Memphis.

After working with the team, Essence pursued a Masters of Science in Clinical Counseling from Charleston Southern University.

After working with the team, Dr. Hashemi accepted a role as an Addiction Psychiatry Resident at Harvard University.

After working with the team, Briana pursued a PharmD at Belmont University.

Senior Mentor

After working with the team, Katie joined Johns Hopkins University as a Regulatory Specialist.

After working with the team, Jessica pursued a Clinical Psychology Masters Degree at Northwestern University.

Senior Mentor

After working part-time during college with the team, Paola became a kindergarten teacher within the Charleston County School District.

After working with the team, Tyler pursued a Masters in Public Health at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

After working with the team, Anna pursued a Clinical Psychology Ph.D. at the University of Missouri.

Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study Project Lead

After working with the team, Dr. Morgan accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at Medical University of South Carolina.

After working with the team, Alicia pursued higher education opportunities.

Hometown: Charlotte, NC

College: UNC Chapel Hill

Major: Psychology

Why MUSC: I chose MUSC because of the faculty and students. I worked at MUSC before starting school and had the opportunity to meet multiple faculty members. They were all overwhelmingly friendly and supportive. I knew a couple first-year students at the time, and they raved about the friendly environment between students and faculty as well as between medical students. I’m also a huge fan of downtown Charleston. Both the walkability and close proximity to cool restaurants and happy hours make it an awesome place to be.

Campus Involvement: Multiple interest groups, pickleball club, oncology research project, Latino Medical Student Association, and Medical Student Alumni Council

Specialty Interest(s): Internal medicine, ophthalmology, physical medicine and rehab

How do you best study? I prefer to study with other people nearby to keep me accountable.

Favorite study spot: The brand-new library

How do you get to and from campus? Walk

Any advice to your younger self?  Come into school with an open mind regarding new study techniques and new ways of learning.

What surprised you about medical school? How welcoming all the older medical students were and how easy it was to become friends with other first-year medical students.

Program Coordinator

After working with the team, Danielle became a Research Analyst at Cognitive Performance Group.

Graduate Student
843-792-8698
salazarc@musc.edu

After working with the team, Jade pursued a Masters in Social Work at Winthrop University.

After working with the team, Dr. Valadez accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Maryland.

After working with the team, Taryn pursued a Masters in Counseling at UNC Charlotte.

After working with the team, Owen became a Program Coordinator within the Medical University of South Carolina.

After working with the team, Isabel pursued a PsyD at Appalachian State University.