Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake City, UT
Program Description
The Collaborative Interprofessional Research and Clinical Learning in Addictions (CIRCLE) Fellowship is a two-year interprofessional post-graduate training program that provides individualized mentorship and training in addiction scholarship and clinical practice. The purpose of CIRCLE is to impart the science knowledge, skills, and core competencies needed by post-graduate, interdisciplinary scholars to address the nation’s needs in addiction leadership and scholarly activities.
CIRCLE offers the following:
- Exceptional mentors, collaborations, and training opportunities with accomplished investigators, leaders, and programs at the Salt Lake City VA and our academic affiliate, the University of Utah
- At least 75% protected time for academic pursuits
- The opportunity to acquire advanced knowledge and skills in interdisciplinary research, clinical care, and education across the continuum of addiction care
- Connect with addiction fellows from 10 sites through common interdisciplinary curriculum and opportunities for cross-site collaboration
- Vibrant ecosystem of six OAA fellowships at VA Salt Lake City, with monthly lunches and other cross-program activities and events to foster collaboration and peer mentorship
Research and Clinical Opportunities
CIRCLE draws upon the rich array of resources at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System. It is strongly aligned with our academic affiliate, the University of Utah. Our research programs apply state-of-the art addiction health services research and implementation science methods to enhance the access, quality and timeliness of addiction care; implement interdisciplinary substance use disorder treatment within primary care, pain and mental health settings; and disseminate evidence-based harm reduction practices.
The VA Salt Lake City Health Care System provides comprehensive outpatient and inpatient addiction treatment services. Many of the clinical environments offer both clinical and research training opportunities.
Spotlight on Clinical Programs
- Vulnerable Veteran Innovative Patient Aligned Care Team (VIP) Initiative is a unique interprofessional, team-based primary care delivery model for the management of substance use disorder, pain, mental illness, social determinants of poor health, and complexities in care resulting from the co-occurrence of these conditions. Learn more about this innovative service model!
- Acute Pain Service (APS), Transitional Pain Service Section (TPS). Goals: provide acute perioperative comprehensive pain management services, promote enhanced recovery after surgery strategies, prevent the development of new chronic opioid use after surgery, minimize postoperative opioid consumption and improve functional recovery after surgery. Read more about the impact the TPS is having!
- Services for Outpatient Addiction Recovery (SOAR) is an outpatient clinic formed by 2 psychiatrists, 2 pharmacists, a psychologist, 4 social workers, and 3 nurses. It provides psychotherapy in both individual and group formats, a virtual Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), Contingency Management (CM) and psychiatric follow-up, including the use of medications commonly prescribed for the treatment of substance use disorders.
- Substance Abuse Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (SARRTP) is a 25-bed (single occupancy) inpatient unit. There is a multidisciplinary team of 27 staff members, including 2 addiction psychiatrists, 2 pharmacists, 5 psychologists, 2 social workers, 10 nurses, 1 physician assistant and nurse practitioner, 2 recreation therapists, and 1 occupational therapist and psychiatric technician.
- Inpatient Psychiatric Unit 30-bed acute stabilization unit that provides acute psychiatric (suicidality, manic, psychotic episodes) and medical management of intoxication and withdrawal syndromes. It comprises 16 clinical staff from different disciplines (psychiatry, social work, nursing, psychology) and 24-hour on-site nursing care.
Spotlight on Cross-Program Fellowship Activities
The VA Salt Lake City Health Care System hosts six interprofessional training programs: addiction treatment, health services research, geriatrics, health professions education, mental illness, and medical informatics. Dedicated programming and events bring fellows together for shared learning, networking, and collaboration. Example activities include:
- Orientation events cover common content and introduce fellows to each other
- Annual capstone events celebrate outgoing fellows’ accomplishments
- Biweekly data series introduces fellows to VA data and resources
- Monthly lunch events hosted by faculty members
- Quarterly ACOS-R meetings where invited leaders talk about their work and career paths
- Annual research symposium to showcase fellows’ research, quality improvement, and other scholarly activities
Spotlight on Affiliate Research and Education Opportunities
- The Program for Addiction Research, Clinical Care, Knowledge, and Advocacy (PARCKA) at the University of Utah promotes addiction-related research, clinical care, knowledge and advocacy across the University, community, state, and nation. It hosts a monthly, 1-hour, hybrid/webinar series, “PARCKA Parleys”, which covers prevention, treatment, and recovery topics. Fellows can apply for pilot grant support to advance their research goals. Learn more about the great work PARCKA is doing.
- Greater Intermountain Node (GIN) of the NIDA Clinical Trials Network (CTN). Under PARCKA, the GIN leads and collaborates on CTN research focused on 1) non-addiction specialty health care settings, 2) research with communities of persons with vulnerability, and 3) health service/care policies. The monthly “On The Rocks” webinar series provides training on GIN-related research. Learn more about ongoing GIN research.
- Center for Medical Cannabis Research leads research to examine the public health impact of cannabis and its therapeutic use.
- Vice President’s Clinical and Translational (VPCAT) Research Scholars Program provides mentorship and training in scientific career development, grant writing and management, and leadership. Learn more.
- Masters of Science in Clinical Investigation (MSCI) program offers classroom and mentored training in clinical research methods and tools across the continuum of translational research. Interested fellows can choose the program track that best fits their goals.
- PARCKA is proud to host the 2026 Addiction Health Services Research Conference in Salt Lake City. Join us!
Potential Mentors
Our program faculty, clinical champions, and mentors have a strong record of leading innovative and impactful research and clinical activities that are responsive to local and national VA priorities. They specialize in addiction policy and health services research, clinical pharmacy innovations, primary care practice transformation, opioid risk mitigation, and more!
Focus areas with example mentors:
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Addiction policy, health services & implementation science |
Clinical pharmacy practice and innovations |
Opioid risk mitigation in surgery and physical therapy contexts |
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Primary care practice transformation |
Focused populations: homeless, pregnant, native and rural health |
Application Process
We welcome applications from diverse professional backgrounds, including health policy, epidemiology, and community health sciences; medicine, nursing, pharmacy, psychology, social work and other health science professionals.
We are accepting rolling applications. Apply now.
To begin, reach out to one of our program directors for more information:
- Dr. Audrey Jones, PhD at Audrey.Jones3@va.gov or Audrey.jones@hsc.utah.edu
- Dr. Taylor Kelley, MD, MPH, MS at Alan.Kelley@va.gov or Alan.Kelley@hsc.utah.edu
CIRCLE Leadership
Audrey L. Jones, Ph.D.
Dr. Jones is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Utah School of Medicine and Research Health Scientist in the Informatics, Decision-Enhancement and Analytic Sciences (IDEAS) Center at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System. She leads research on integrated service models for Veterans with homeless experience and other social and clinical vulnerabilities. Her research on the VA’s homeless-tailored medical home model (called “H-PACT”) found this innovative service model improves Veterans’ experience with health care, is associated with reductions in problematic patterns of emergency department use and is more effective than traditional primary care approaches at linking homeless Veterans to timely treatment for depression. A new line of research is examining the integration of geriatric care in project-based housing for aging, homeless-experienced Veterans. Dr. Jones earned her Ph.D. in Health Policy and Management from the University of California-Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health. She completed post-doctoral training in health services research at the VA Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP) at the VA Pittsburgh Health Care System and medical informatics at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System.
A. Taylor Kelley, MD, MPH, MSc
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Dr. Kelley is an assistant professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine and a primary care and addiction medicine physician in the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System. As a clinician investigator and health services researcher, his research interests include healthcare quality and access for individuals experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage, with focus on behavioral health and primary care for immigrant, tribal, and veteran populations. His current work is funded by the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and Utah Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Kelley received his undergraduate degree in economics from Brigham Young University and his medical degree from the University of Texas McGovern Medical School at Houston. He completed residency training in internal medicine and pediatrics at Yale-New Haven Hospital and a health services research fellowship in the National Clinician Scholars Program at the University of Michigan. He holds an MPH degree from Harvard and MS degree in health care research from the University of Michigan. He is a board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and American Board of Preventive Medicine (Addiction Medicine).
Spencer Calder, MPH
Mr. Calder is an Academic Program Manager at the VA Salt Lake City Health Care System. He supports the national Stepped Care for Opioid Use Disorder Train the Trainer (SCOUTT) Initiative, and the VIP Initiative, and is the national director of the Medication Addiction Treatment in the VA (MAT-VA) Initiative. Mr. Calder graduated with a master’s in public health from the University of Utah in 2019 after completing an undergraduate degree in public health from Brigham Young University. As a graduate student, he worked as a Connect2Health mentor and with the University of Utah’s Hotspotting program to improve vulnerable patients’ access to healthcare, affordable housing, and other basic needs. Prior to working as a research analyst, he worked as a lead medical scribe for Robin Healthcare where he worked with otolaryngologists and urologists at UCSF.
About Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City offers the perfect blend of academic opportunity, outdoor adventure and urban living. With top-tiered institutions like the University of Utah, the city provides strong research support, interdisciplinary collaborations, and access to experts across the health sciences. Situated against the Wasatch Range of the Rocky Mountains, Salt Lake offers convenient access to stunning mountains for hiking, trail running, road and mountain biking, rock climbing, fishing and more. It is perfect for those who enjoy an active outdoor lifestyle year-round. Internationally renowned destinations such as Park City, Moab, and five national parks (Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, and Zion) are within driving distance and waiting to be discovered. Salt Lake also has all of the amenities of urban living, including a growing art scene, restaurants, and music venues, making it the perfect place to live, work and play.