The Center for Integrated Care is founded on Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care’s longstanding history and mission of advancing the behavioral health continuum of care services through workforce training, consultation, program implementation, and service delivery. For decades, UBHC has trained on “complete wellness” paradigms integrating primary care into behavioral health programming nationally and statewide. At University Behavioral Health Care, whole-person care has remained a core focus in addressing the needs of individuals we serve.
Preparing the next generation of healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills to deliver collaborative, whole-person care. Students learn to bridge behavioral and physical health through interdisciplinary education and real-world integrated care practices.
Advancing a coordinated approach that brings behavioral and physical healthcare together across Rutgers Health. By strengthening collaboration across disciplines, we help create seamless, whole-person care that addresses the full range of each individual’s health and wellness needs.
Equipping primary care teams across New Jersey with the skills and strategies to integrate behavioral health into everyday practice. Through practical, evidence-based training and support, we help providers strengthen collaboration and deliver more comprehensive, whole-person care.
Lister, H.H., Marcello, S.C., Lister, J.L., Singer, B.N., O’Kane, T., Hilton, K., Haleva, R., Kim, A.H., & Steinberg, M.L. (2026). Building tomorrow’s health psychologists: Data from an Integrated Primary Care Internship Program serving medically underserved populations. Manuscript accepted for publication at Training and Education in Professional Psychology.
Cooper, S.E., Fougnies, L.V., Juntilla, A.M., Lister, H.H., Hilton, K., & Lister, J.J. (2025). Substance Use Treatment and Overdose Patterns in High and Low Social Vulnerability Counties – A Trends Analysis in New Jersey from 2014 – 2022. Addictive Behaviors Reports, 23 (100653), 1-8. Doi: 10.1016/j.abrep.2025.100653.
O’Kane, T., Lister, H.H., Marcello, S.C., Hilton, K., & Haleva, R. (2025). Factors underlying positive and negative attitudes toward integrated care among psychologists and varied stakeholders. Manuscript accepted for publication at Training and Education in Professional Psychology. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2027-21412-001?doi=1
Ware, O.D., Lister, J.J., Cooper, S.E., Kim, A.H., Lister, H.H., Peterson, N.A., Fioravanti, S., Powell, K.G., Marcello, S.C., & Joseph, B. (2025). Subtypes and service utilization patterns among opioid use disorder patients at a community health center: Findings from a medically underserved urban area of the Northeastern United States. Manuscript accepted for publication at Addiction Science & Clinical Practice. (IF = 3.7).
Lister, H., Toto, A.M., Marcello, S., O’Kane, T. and Hilton, K. (2025), “Examining integrated care training and practice implementation within academic medical settings: perceptions, attitudes and barriers”, Journal of Integrated Care, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JICA-08-2024-0043
Lister, J.J., Lister, H.H., Gilmore Powell, K., Peterson, N.A., Marcello, S.C., Toto, A.M., & Cheung, S.P. (2024). The Rutgers Integrated Care Evaluation Framework (The RICE Framework): An innovative and rigorous set of strategies to evaluate integrated care programs. International Journal of Integrated Care. doi: 10.5334/ijic.7715. https://ijic.org/articles/10.5334/ijic.7715
Lister, H.H., Marcello, S.C., Lister, J.J., Toto, A., Gilmore Powell, K., & Peterson, N.A. (2022). Advancing the behavioral health workforce: An innovative integrated care and substance use disorder training model to improve outcomes for people in medically underserved communities. Families, Systems, & Health. doi: 10.1037/fsh0000739. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36508632/
Lister, J.J., & Lister, H.H. (2021). Improving methadone access for rural communities in the USA: Lessons learned from COVID-19 adaptations and international models of care. Rural and Remote Health, 6770. Doi: 10.22605/RRH6770 (JIF = 2.5).
Nguyen AM, Scott E, Mikesell L, Williams AM, Marcello S, Lister HH, Lister JJ, Crabtree BF, Hudson S, Halm E. Strategies for system-level primary care initiatives in academic health systems: An integrated behavioral health example. 2026 North American Primary Care Research Group. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. November 2026. [SCHEDULED]
Palmer, P. (2026, October 20). The Social Determinants of Health Framework and Supporting Bodily Autonomy/Body Positivity in Minority Pediatric Patients. New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies (NJAMHAA) Fall Conference, Iselin, NJ.
Peterson, A. D., Riley, K. E., & Lister, H. H. (2026, August 6–8). Attitudes and barriers: Mapping integrated behavioral healthcare readiness [Conference presentation abstract]. APA 2026 Convention, Washington, DC, United States.
Marcello, S.C., Lister, H.H, Hilton, K., & Haleva, R. (2026). Training our Future Integrated Health Professionals: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Clinical Training. Poster presentation at the 2026 National Council for Mental Wellbeing NatCon Conference, Denver, Colorado. https://natcon2026.ipostersessions.com/Default.aspx?s=17-83-6B-49-68-E2-8C-67-EE-27-A7-09-EA-14-3D-C6#%E2%80%8B
Hilton, K., Berger, M. (2026, April 14-15). Motivational Interviewing: Integration Strategies for Child and Family Serving Agencies: Orientation, implementation, and long-term sustainability. New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies (NJAMHAA) Spring Conference, Iselin, NJ.
Lister, J.J., Lister, H.H., Kim, A.H., Sangster, S.A., Singer, B.N., Juntilla, A.M., Hilton, K., Haleva, R., O’Kane, T., Powell, K.G., Peterson, N.A., & Marcello, S.C. (2026). Opportunities and challenges for implementing integrated care services in primary care settings: A mixed methods study in medically underserved communities of New Jersey. Paper accepted for poster presentation at the 30th Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, Washington, DC.
Lister, J.J., Lister, H., Kim, A., Sangster, S., Singer, B., Juntilla, A., Hilton-Lerro, K., Haleva, R., O’Kane, T., Peterson, A., Gilmore Powell, K., Marcello, S. (2025). Increasing integrated care access in medically underserved communities: A mixed methods study on opportunities and challenges. Paper accepted for oral presentation at the 28th Annual Collaborative Family Healthcare Association Conference, Raleigh, North Carolina.
Clapp, D. & Lister, H. (2025). Determinants of Cultural Assessment in Pediatric Integrated Primary Care: Preliminary Findings in Quality Improvement. Paper accepted for poster presentation at the 28th Annual Collaborative Family Healthcare Association Conference, Raleigh, North Carolina.
Marcello, S.C. & Lister, H.H. (2025). Bridging Systems, Transforming Outcomes: The State of Integrated Care Workshop. Workshop presentation at the 2025 Towards Unity for Health (TUFH) Conference, Langhorne, PA.
Kim, A.H., Cooper, S.E., Sangster, S.A., Lister, H.H., Ware, O.D., Marcello, S.C., & Lister, J.J. (2025). A clinical epidemiological profile of a community health center from 2015-2021: Emergent trends in substance use disorder burdens. Poster presentation at the 2025 Rutgers Addiction Research Center (RARC) Fall Symposium, Piscataway, NJ.
Fougnies, L.V., Juntilla, A.M., Cooper, S.E., Lister, H.H., Hilton, K., & Lister, J.J. (2025). Substance use treatment and overdose patterns in high and low social vulnerability counties: A trends analysis in New Jersey from 2014 – 2022. Poster presentation at the 2025 Rutgers Addiction Research Center (RARC) Fall Symposium, Piscataway, NJ.
Lister, J.J., Lister, H.H., Kim, A.H., Sangster, S.A., Singer, B.N., Juntilla, A.M., Marcello, S.C., Hilton, K., Haleva, R., O’Kane, T., Powell, K.G., & Peterson, N.A. (2025). Opportunities and challenges for implementing integrated care services in primary care settings: A mixed methods study in medically underserved communities of New Jersey. Podium presentation at the International Conference on Integrated Health and Social Work, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Nguyen, A.M., Crabtree, B.F., Lister, H.H., Lister, J.J., Marcello, S., Mikesell, L., McGarry Williams, A., Gupta, M., & Purkayastha, A. (2025). An evidence-based leadership training intervention to accelerate integration of behavioral health and primary care. Invited address for the Behavioral Health and Equity Research Ideation Forum hosted by the Rutgers Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Behavioral Health and Equity Provost Strategic Task Force, Piscataway, NJ.
Ware, O., Lister, J., Cooper, S., Kim, A., Lister, H., Peterson, A., Fioravanti, S., Powell, K., Marcello, S., & Joseph, B. (2024). Subtypes and service utilization patterns among patients with opioid use disorder at a community health center in a medically underserved urban area. Paper accepted for poster presentation at the 29th Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research, Seattle, WA.
Kim, A.H., Cooper, S.E., Sangster, S., Ware, O.D., Fioravanti, S., Joseph, B., Gilmore K.P., Marcello, S.C., Peterson, N.A., Lister, H.H., & Lister, J.J. (2024). A clinical epidemiological profile of substance use disorder burden trends across 2015-2021 at a community health center in an urban medically underserved area. Presented at the Northeast Epidemiology Conference, hosted by the New Jersey Department of Health, Atlantic City, NJ.
Sangster, S., Singer, B., Lister, J.J., Lister, H.H., Powell, K.G., Peterson, N.A., Toto, A.M., & Marcello, S.C. (2023, October). Preliminary Data from the Evaluation of the Rutgers University Integrated Substance Use Disorder Training Program (RUISTP). Presented at the 26th Annual Collaborative Family Healthcare Association Conference, Phoenix, Arizona.
Lister, J.J., Cheung, S.P., Lister, H.H., Gilmore Powell, K., Peterson, N.A., Marcello, S.C., Toto, A.M., Enich, M., Cooper, S., & Fougnies, L. (2022, October). The Rutgers Integrated Care Evaluation Framework (The RICE Framework): An innovative and rigorous set of strategies to evaluate integrated care programs. Presented at the 25th Annual Collaborative Family Healthcare Association Conference, Boise, Idaho.
Lister, H.H., Marcello, S.C., & Toto, A. (2022, April). Shaping the future of integrated care through the development of innovative education, training, and clinical programs. Presented at the 53rd Annual National Council for Mental Wellbeing Conference, Washington, D.C. https://natcon2022-natcon.ipostersessions.com/default.aspx?s=23-B3-73-D9-08-FB-B9-DB-91-A0-79-E6-E6-97-06-31.
Integrated health care depends on a skilled workforce prepared to address the complex and interconnected needs of the people and communities we serve. Through education, training and hands-on experience, we continue to develop the next generation of professionals who will strengthen the delivery of integrated care.
RUBHC is committed to expanding behavioral health training in integrated care throughout New Jersey and nationally. The RUISTP is a full-time, one-year, interprofessional fellowship program developed and implemented by RUBHC with federal funding from Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
The RUISTP will increase the number of nurse practitioners, physician assistants, psychologists, and social workers who are trained to provide effective integrated care services, including specific training in the areas of substance use disorder (SUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment. Additionally, the program will specifically increase the number of waivered buprenorphine prescribers for the treatment of OUD who are also trained in integrated care delivery.
The Expanded Rutgers University Integrated Substance Use Disorder Training Program (E-RUISTP) extends our current fellowship training for advanced practice nurses, psychologists, social workers, and physician assistants (RUISTP) to include registered nurses and counselors in addition to pre-licensure professionals of all included disciplines.
In clinical collaboration with the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, this HRSA-funded program is designed to strengthen workforce training in integrated care and integrated addiction services. E-RUISTP also enhances our partnerships with health centers and providers in the community toward improved day-to-day care for underserved groups. As with RUISTP and RUISIP, the evaluation and continuous quality improvement for this program is led by the Rutgers School of Social Work. See Partnerships for more information.
The RUISIP is a HRSA-funded doctoral psychology internship training program that provides training in integrated care and opioid use/substance use disorder treatment for doctoral psychology interns from national psychology graduate programs. The RUISIP will also provide clinical training for doctoral psychology students at the Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP). The RUISIP adds four internship positions to UBHC’s APA-Accredited Doctoral Internship in Health Service Psychology and several clinical training sites for students at Rutgers. In addition to providing training for doctoral interns and students, RUISIP is designed to create and support a team of university-wide psychology faculty and supervisors to provide and maintain training in integrated care and integrated SUD services for psychology interns and students at Rutgers.
This initiative is a collaborative mission with partners at GSAPP, RWJBarnabas/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers School of Social Work, and community-based clinics in New Jersey.
Working in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Human Services’ Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), the CIC will implement the collaborative care model (CoCM) in two primary care and one pediatric care clinics located in Newark and Elizabeth. The CoCM initiative will serve individuals with serious mental illness (SMI), serious emotional disturbance (SED) and co-occurring physical health and/or substance use disorders (SUDs) who present in the primary care and pediatric clinics. Teams of psychiatric consultants, behavioral health care managers, nurse care managers, and support staff coordinate behavioral health services with primary care utilizing the CoCM, including patient-centered, team-based, measurement-based, and population-based health care, as well as evidence-based behavioral health practices, such as brief cognitive behavioral therapy, early detection clinical high-risk for psychosis, and medications for opioid use disorder.
This initiative is a collaborative mission with partners at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, NJMS Medicine Pediatrics, Rutgers Student Health primary care, Newark Beth Israel pediatric integrated care programs, Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health primary care clinics, and additional community‑based health centers in Newark.
February 10, 2025
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