This document presents biographies of students who are currently enrolled in
the Doctoral Program at the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve
University. It illustrates the breadth of experience that our students bring to their studies,
including experience in research, teaching, social work practice, and administration.
DEBRA HROUDA (Cohort '03) is a member of the faculty and coordinator of forensic
research at Case Western Reserve University's Department of Psychiatry. She has worked on research
projects examining violence and serious mental illnesses, risk factors for filicide (both with and
without the presence of suicide), and comparison of Criteria for Release from Hospitalization of
Persons Found Unrestorably Incompetent to Stand Trail or Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity. She also
works with the forensic fellows and psychiatry residents on various issues related to research and
people with serious mental illnesses and the criminal justice system. She has served as a
consultant to the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, with the development of policies and
practices related to forensic mental health, including the development of a mental health court
docket. Currently, she is working on a project investigating the use of a psychoeducational group
model for people with bipolar disorder in a community mental health setting. In addition, she is
involved with the MSASS/NIDA Dual Disorders Research Program investigating barriers to treatment
for dually diagnosed women in jail. Debra has been an adjunct instructor at MSASS since 1996 -
teaching in both the full-time and intensive weekend programs. She has presented to local,
regional, national, and International audiences on a wide range of topics in the forensics/criminal
justice/mental health realm. Before coming to Case Western Reserve University, she worked in
community mental health as a case manager and then coordinator of Partial Hospitalization for
adults with severe and persistent mental illnesses. In that capacity, she developed a curriculum
for the program. Before coming to Cleveland, she worked at the University of Virginia's Institute
of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policiy. There, she was involved with forensic evaluations, training
of other evaluators in the state, and research. Her research included juvenile delinquency, capital
sentencing, firearms possession of people with serious mental illnesses, and the original National
Institute of Justice project on stalking of public figures.
MOLLY IRWIN (Cohort '03) prior to becoming a PhD student at MSASS, she served as
interim coordinator for The Cuyahoga County Early Childhood Initiative. Additionally, Molly managed
the comprehensive external evaluation of the Initiative for the past three years, working closely
with program directors and staff, a team of national researchers contracted to design and carry out
the evaluation, County elected and appointed officials, and Early Childhood Initiative funders.
Prior to working with the Early Childhood Initiative, she managed the Program Planning and
Evaluation unit at a health and human services consulting firm. Molly also spent three years
working with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. There she
coordinated the evaluations of South Carolina's family planning projects, and later served as the
surveillance and evaluation coordinator for the Bureau of Maternal and Child Heath. Molly holds a
Masters degree in Public Health, (MPH) in the area of Maternal and Child Health from the University
of Alabama at Birmingham. Prior to receiving her MPH, she served for three years in the United
States Peace Corps in Honduras, working directly with women and lay health workers in a small rural
village.
CORRINNE MILLETTE (Cohort '03) Before entering the doctoral program (full time) at
the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Corrinne worked as a caseworker in the Intake
Department at Lorain County Children Services (LCCS), Elyria, Ohio. She received her Master's
degree from MSASS in 1997, where she was a research assistant for the Center on Urban Poverty and
Social Change. While at MSASS, she helped develop the Violence Information Network (VIN) of Greater
Cleveland. VIN collects and analyzes information from local data providers, such as the Cleveland
Police Department and Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court. She was also awarded the Geller Award for
Innovations in the Prevention of Child Abuse for her work with teenage mothers at Bellflower Center
for Prevention of Child Abuse. Since graduating from MSASS, Corrinne has worked as the community
outreach coordinator for a domestic violence shelter, where she has she prepared and presented
lectures on domestic violence. She has conducted training programs for professionals who have
contact with victims of domestic violence, conducted domestic violence, assessments for agencies in
Lorain County, and facilitated support groups for both adult and adolescent victims of domestic
violence. Corrinne has also worked with adolescents from Lorain County Juvenile Court in a
wilderness therapy program. Her research interests include child welfare, domestic violence,
adolescent-related violence and juvenile offender recidivism.
ZOE BREEN WOOD (Cohort '03) is a social worker who brings over 25 years of direct
practice, management and professional development experience to her work. Currently, she is the
co-director of the Center for Public Sector Leadership and Service and an instructor at the Mandel
School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University Zoe also consults nationally
with public and private sector human service agencies. Over the years she has specialized in
developing competency based training systems, policy analysis, and organizational development and
change management. Recent efforts have focused on strengthening community practice concepts and
incorporating community based practice strategies into graduate social work education programs.
Zoe's teaching focuses on social policy issues and advocacy, community based child welfare
practice, and adoption practice and policy. Beginning as a child welfare worker in a rural Virginia
community, she has worked in direct practice and supervisory positions in local social service
agencies, mental health centers, public and private hospital settings and state departments of
mental health and of social services. Zoe has also taught at three universities. She has had a wide
range of experiences providing individual, group, and organizational interventions in public and
private sectors. Recently Zoe was named the director of the Mandel School's Ability Based Learning
Environment (ABLE) program where she is responsible for providing leadership in the development of
opportunities for assessment as learning for master's level students and for outcomes assessment
for the master's curriculum.
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