The PATHS Lab is directed by Dr. Nichea Spillane in the Department of Psychology at the University of Rhode Island. Research in the PATHS Lab is funded by the National Institutes of Health and is working toward reducing the health disparities related to alcohol and other drugs by adapting and developing prevention and treatment programs for alcohol and other drugs in one First Nation community. Other work examines risk and protective factors within North American Indigenous populations including American Indians in the United States and First Nations in Canada. Largely, our work is theoretically driven by positive psychology principles and behavioral choice theory. Graduate students in the PATHS are encouraged to apply the training they receive on these projects to minoritized populations or other populations of interest.
The PATHS lab utilizes a mentorship model and strongly believes in collaboration between lab members and often other professors both at URI and at other institutions. Through weekly lab meetings, projects and ideas are collaborated on and students obtain valuable feedback from peers and Dr. Spillane.