Verena E. Metz, PhD

​Verena Metz, PhD, is a staff scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, a member of the Drug and Alcohol Research Team (DART). She studied psychology at the University of Vienna, Austria, and completed a doctoral program of Applied Medical Science in Mental Health and Behavioral Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna, where she also trained as a clinical and health psychologist. Her doctoral thesis focused on maternal and neonatal outcome parameters of women receiving opioid maintenance treatment throughout their pregnancy. Her interest in substance use disorders and vulnerable patient populations led her to complete postdoctoral research training in the Division of Substance Use Disorders at Columbia University Medical Center (New York State Psychiatric Institute), where she was mainly involved in medication trials in opioid-using, non-treatment-seeking volunteers, and a harm reduction study focusing on reducing opioid overdose deaths in New York City. In San Francisco, she worked briefly at the Friends Research Institute, implementing a study in a clinic with methadone-treated patients, before completing a 2-year clinical training in community mental health and school settings, to receive her license as a psychologist in California.

Current Positions

• Staff Scientist, Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California

Section Affiliations

• Behavioral Health and Aging

Primary Research Interests

• Prevention of and early intervention for substance use disorders
• Integrated mental health care/comprehensive health care
• Gender, cultural background, and other individual and socio-cultural characteristics affecting mental health
• Mental Health and substance use disorders in vulnerable patient populations

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