Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Psychiatry
The University of Texas
Health Science Center at San Antonio
Biographical Sketch
Tara Karns-Wright is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in the Neurobehavioral Research Laboratory and Clinic (NRLC). She completed her graduate training in Life-Span Developmental Psychology at West Virginia University.
Prior to joining the NRLC, Tara’s research focused on decision-making biases and heuristics in adult populations. Specifically, she has examined factors that may influence the decision-making process such as emotion, impulsivity, and age-related factors. In addition, Tara also has a strong background in statistics and methodology. At the NRLC, Tara is expanding her research and will be involved with studies that examine binge 
drinking in adults. Specifically, she will be investigating behavioral and biological processes contributing to binge drinking and biomarkers associated with the use of alcohol. Furthermore, she will be examining how these processes relate to reducing alcohol use in the "real world." Tara’s postdoctoral training is funded by a grant from NIDA, Training in Drug Abuse Research: Behavior and Neurobiology (T32-DA031115).
In addition to her research and training at the NRLC, Tara is an avid runner and sports enthusiast, faithfully rooting for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Research Interests
- Statistics and Methodology
- Decision-Making: Impulsivity and Bias
- Contributions of Behavioral and Biological Processes to Binge Drinking
- Biomarkers Associated with Alcohol Use
Education
| 2013 | Ph.D. | Life-Span Developmental Psychology | West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV |
| 2012 | M.S. | Life-Span Developmental Psychology | West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV |
| 2009 | B.S. | Psychology/Sociology | Saint Vincent College, Latrobe, PA |
Selected Publications/Presentations with the NRLC
Characterization of the pharmacokinetics of Phosphatidylethanol 16:0/18:1 and 16:0/18:2 in human whole blood after alcohol consumption in a clinical laboratory study. Javors, M. A., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Roache, J. D., Karns-Wright, T. E., and Dougherty, D. M. (2016). Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 40, 1228-1234. |
Examination of phosphatidylethanol in light vs. heavy drinkers before and after 0.4 and 0.8 g/kg ethanol consumption. Karns-Wright, T. E., Javors, M., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Roache, J. D., & Dougherty, D. M. (March, 2016). Poster presented at 7th annual meeting of the Behavior, Biology, and Chemistry: Translational Research in Addiction, San Antonio, TX. |
Correspondence between transdermal alcohol concentrations and self-reported drinking. Karns-Wright, T. E., Roache, J. R., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Mullen, J., & Dougherty, D. M. (February, 2016). Poster presented at the 26th annual meeting of the Texas Research Society on Alcoholism, Dallas, Texas. |
Behavioral impulsivity does not predict naturalistic alcohol consumption or treatment outcomes Mullen, J., Mathias, C. W., Karns, T. E., Liang, Y., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Roache, J. D. Lamb, R. J., and Dougherty, D. M. (2016). Addictive Disorders & Their Treatment, 15, 120-128. |
Treatment response profiles of at-risk drinkers during a 12-week contingency management intervention Mullen, J., Mathias, C. W., Karns-Wright, T. E., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Roache, J. D., and Dougherty, D. M. (2016, March). Poster presented at 7th annual meeting of the Behavior, Biology, and Chemistry: Translational Research in Addiction, San Antonio, TX. |
The potential clinical utility of transdermal alcohol monitoring data to estimate the number of alcoholic drinks consumed Dougherty, D. M., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Liang, Y., Karns, T. E., Lake, S. L., Cates, S. E., and Roache, J. D. (2015). Addictive Disorders & Their Treatment, 14, 124-130.. |
Transdermal alcohol concentration data collected during a contingency management program to reduce at-risk drinking Dougherty, D. M., Karns, T. E., Mullen, J., Liang, Y., Lake, S. L., Roache, J. D., Hill-Kapturczak, N. (2015). Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 148, 77-84.. |
Effects of tryptophan depletion and a simulated alcohol binge on impulsivity Dougherty, D. M., Mullen, J., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Liang, Y., Karns, T. E., Lake, S. L., Mathias, C. M., and Roache, J. D. (2015). Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 23, 109-121. |
Using contingency management procedures to reduce at-risk drinking in heavy drinkers Dougherty, D. M., Lake, S. L., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Liang, Y., Karns, T. E., Mullen, J., and Roache, J. D. (2015). Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 39, 109-121. |
Accounting for sex-related differences in the estimation of breath alcohol levels using transdermal alcohol monitoring Hill-Kapturczak, N., Roache, J. D., Liang, Y., Karns, T. E., Cates, S. E., and Dougherty, D. M. (2015). Psychopharmacology, 232, 115-123. |
Assessing the validity of participant-derived compared to staff-derived values to compute a binge score Lake, S. L., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Liang, Y., Roache, J. D., Mullen, J., Karns, T. E., and (2015). Alcohol and Alcoholism, 50, 413-419. |
Translational application of transdermal alcohol monitoring Dougherty, D. M., Roache, J. D., Karns, T. E., Mullen, J., and Hill-Kapturczak, N. (2015). Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 39s1, 291a. |
At-risk drinking among heavy drinkers reduced during contingency management treatment and 3 months of follow-up. Cates, S. E., Karns, T. E., Mullen, J., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Roache, J. D., and Dougherty, D. M. (2015, April). Poster presented at 25th annual meeting of the Texas Research Society on Alcoholism, Bryan, TX. |
Differences in time to peak in transdermal vs. breath alcohol concentrations: Sex- and dose-related effects. Karns, T. E., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Roache, J. D., Liang, Y., Mullen, J., and Dougherty, D. M. (2015, April). Poster presented at 25th annual meeting of the Texas Research Society on Alcoholism, Bryan, TX. |
Use of continuous transdermal alcohol monitoring during a contingency management procedure to reduce excessive alcohol use. Dougherty, D. M., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Liang, Y., Karns, T. E., Cates, S. E., Lake, S. L., Mullen, J., and Roache, J. D. (in press). Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 142, 301-306. |
Accounting for sex-related differences in the estimation of breath alcohol concentrations using transdermal alcohol monitoring Hill-Kapturczak, N., Roache, J. D., Liang, Y., Karns, T. E., Cates, S. E., and Dougherty, D. M. (in press). Psychopharmacology. |
Using transdermal alcohol monitoring to detect low-level drinking Roache, J. D., Karns, T. E., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Mullen, J., Liang, Y., Lamb, R. J., and Dougherty, D. M. (2015). Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 39, 1120-1127. |
| Continuous transdermal alcohol monitoring to determine effectiveness of contingency management for reducing alcohol intake Karns, T. E., Dougherty, D. M., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Lake, S. L., Roache, J. D., and Mullen, J. (2014, September). Poster presented at 2nd Annual Postdoctoral Research Forum UTHSCSA 2014, San Antonio, Texas |
Characterizing alcohol use of binge drinkers before and after contingency management treatment using transdermal alcohol monitoring Dougherty, D. M., Karns, T. E., Lake, S. L., Cates, S. E., Mathias, C. W., Mullen, J., Hill-Kapturczak, N., and Roache, J. D. (2014, June). Poster presented at the 37th annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, Bellevue, Washington |
The effects of sex and ethnicity on time to reach peak transdermal alcohol concentration and breath alcohol concentration Hubbard, R., Karns, T. E., Shilling, K. D., Lake, S. L., Hill-Kapturczak, N., and Dougherty, D. M. (2014, February). Poster presented at the 24th annual meeting of the Texas Research Society on Alcoholism, San Antonio, Texas. |
Discrepancies between self-report and interview-generated scores on the alcohol use questionnaires among binge and non-binge drinkers Hunt, C. A., Lake, S. L., Cates, S. E., Shilling, K. D., Karns, T. E., Hill-Kapturczak, N., & Dougherty, D. M. (2014, February). Poster presented at the 24th annual meeting of the Texas Research Society on Alcoholism, San Antonio, Texas |
Sex-related differences in breath alcohol and transdermal alcohol concentrations Cates, S. E., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Roache, J. D., Karns, T. E., Lake, S. L., & Dougherty, D. M. (2014, May). UTHSCSA Department of Psychiatry 2nd Annual Research and Quality Improvement Day 2014, San Antonio, TX |
Demographic influences on time to reach peak alcohol concentration and breath alcohol concentration Hubbard, R. M., Karns, T. E., Shilling, K. D., Cates, S. E., Lake, S. L., Hill-Kapturczak, N., & Dougherty, D. M. (2014, May) UTHSCSA Department of Psychiatry 2nd Annual Research and Quality Improvement Day 2014, San Antonio, TX |
Using transdermal alcohol monitors to estimate peak breath alcohol and total number of drinks consumed after a self-paced drinking paradigm Hunt, C. A., Lake, S. L., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Cates, S. E., Mullen, J., Karns, T. E., Roache, J. D., & Dougherty, D. M. . (2014, May) UTHSCSA Department of Psychiatry 2nd Annual Research and Quality Improvement Day 2014, San Antonio, TX |
Using objective transdermal alcohol concentration readings to estimate standard units of alcohol consumed Karns, T. E., Dougherty, D. M., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Liang, Y., Cates. S. E., & Roache, J. D. (2014, May) UTHSCSA Department of Psychiatry 2nd Annual Research and Quality Improvement Day 2014, San Antonio, TX |
The effects of alcohol consumption on response initiation impulsivity using a "priming" does of alcohol Shilling, K. D., Lake, S. L., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Cates, S. E., Mullen, J., Karns, T. E., & Dougherty, D. M. (2014, May) UTHSCSA Department of Psychiatry 2nd Annual Research and Quality Improvement Day 2014, San Antonio, TX |
Continuous transdermal alcohol monitoring to determine effectiveness of contingency management for reducing alcohol intake Karns, T. E., Dougherty, D. M., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Lake, S. L., Cates, S. E., Roache, J. D., and Mullen, J. (2014, June). Poster presented at the 37th annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, Bellevue, Washington |
Reducing excessive alcohol intake using transdermal alcohol monitoring in conjunction with contingency management Karns, T. E., Dougherty, D. M., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Lake, S. L., Cates, S. E., Roache, J. D., and Mullen, J. (2014, February). Poster presented at the 24th annual meeting of the Texas Research Society on Alcoholism, San Antonio, Texas. |
Effect of consumption rate in estimating breath alcohol and standard units consumed using transdermal alcohol monitoring Lake, S. L., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Karns, T. E., Mullen, J., Cates, S. E., Roache, J. D., and Dougherty, D. M. (February, 2014). Poster presented at the 24th annual meeting of the Texas Research Society on Alcoholism, San Antonio, Texas. |
Utilizing transdermal alcohol monitoring to accurately estimate breath alcohol and standard units consumed using an ad lib drinking paradigm Lake, S. L., Hill-Kapturczak, N., Cates, S. E., Karns, T. E., Roache, J. D., and Dougherty, D. M. (2014, June). Poster presented at the 37th annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, Bellevue, Washington. |
Transdermal alcohol observations of community binge alcohol use in non-treatment samples Roache, J. D., Karns, T. E., Hill-Kapturczak, N., and Dougherty, D. M. (2014, June). Poster presented at the 37th annual meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, Bellevue, Washington |
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