About

Peter M. Monti, Ph.D., is the Donald G. Millar Distinguished Professor of Alcohol and Addiction Studies and the Director of the Center for Addiction and Disease Risk Exacerbation (CADRE) at Brown University. He is an internationally recognized leader in the study of the bio-behavioral mechanisms underlying addictive behaviors and in the development of prevention and treatment interventions for substance use disorders. His scholarship focuses on assessment, mechanisms of change, early intervention, and treatment, with research spanning adolescent substance use prevention and treatment, coping skills and relapse prevention, integrated cognitive-behavioral and pharmacological interventions, alcohol use and HIV/sexual risk behavior, and the impact of substance use on chronic disease. Dr. Monti has authored approximately 400 peer-reviewed publications, monographs, and book chapters, and is a co-editor of the second edition of Adolescents, Alcohol and Substance Abuse. He has trained hundreds of students, primarily psychology interns and postdoctoral fellows, and has served as Principal Investigator on multiple NIH-funded grants. His contributions to the field are both theoretical and applied, and he has served extensively on national scientific review committees, editorial boards, and professional organizations. His honors include numerous awards recognizing his research and mentorship, and he has held leadership roles such as past President of the Research Society on Alcoholism.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Environmental health
• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Clinical psychology
• Demography
• Family medicine
• Immunology
• Statistics
• Gerontology
• Social psychology
• Developmental psychology
• Internal medicine

Selected publications

• Addressing Chronic Steatotic Liver Disease through Community Partnerships, Integrated Behavioral Interventions, and Point-of-Care Diagnostics.

  PubMed · 2026-04-01

  article

  OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility of a community- based, point-of-care (POC) screening and intervention model for Metabolic and Alcohol-associated Liver Disease (MetALD) in an underserved Rhode Island population. APPROACH: A partnership between the Brown University CADRE and Clínica Esperanza/Hope Clinic (CEHC) utilized electronic health record (EHR) screening followed by on-site FibroScan® imaging and a Motivational Interviewing (MI) lifestyle intervention. RESULTS: Preliminary pilot data identified liver stiffness (fibrosis) in 21% of participants and steatosis in 57%. All identified patients were previously unaware of their condition. CONCLUSIONS: Integrating POC diagnostics with culturally attuned behavioral interventions in a community- centric clinic can bypass traditional barriers to care and detect "silent" liver disease at treatable stages.

  Publisher

• Acute changes in immune biomarkers under low‐ and moderate‐dose alcohol in light and heavy drinkers: A randomized, placebo‐controlled trial

  Alcohol Clinical and Experimental Research · 2025-06-30 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  BACKGROUND: Alcohol consumption modulates immune function, in part by promoting microbial translocation. This process is thought to trigger an acute-phase immune response, contributing to alcohol-related immune modulation. However, most evidence on these effects arises from preclinical models. Additionally, existing human studies lack a placebo control, rely on a single alcohol dose, or fail to account for individual drinking history. METHODS: This study examined in vivo concentrations of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, a marker of microbial translocation), acute-phase proteins, cytokines, and chemokines under low-dose alcohol, moderate-dose alcohol, and placebo using a within-subjects design in light and heavy drinkers. Participants (N = 32) were light drinkers (n = 15) and nontreatment-seeking heavy drinkers (n = 17). Groups did not differ on demographics. Participants received each dose condition in randomized order. Blood samples were collected at baseline and at hourly intervals for 4 h. Plasma concentrations of LPS, acute-phase proteins (LPS binding protein [LBP], soluble cluster of differentiation 14 [sCD14], and soluble cluster of differentiation 163 [sCD163]), and cytokines/chemokines (interleukin 6 [IL-6], interleukin 8 [IL-8], interleukin 10 [IL-10], monocyte chemoattractant protein [MCP-1], and tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α]) were quantified using immunoassays. Linear mixed models tested effects of dose condition, drinker group, time, and the three-way interaction. Further analyses tested associations of LPS, LBP, sCD14, and sCD163 with cytokines/chemokines. RESULTS: The three-way interaction of dose by group by time was significant for IL-6 (p = 0.042), IL-8 (p = 0.039), MCP-1 (p = 0.001), and TNF-α (p = 0.001). LPS was associated with concentrations of interleukins. Levels of sCD163 were 43% higher in heavy drinkers overall. Heavy drinkers exhibited apparent conditioned peripheral immune suppression, wherein the expectation of alcohol elicited selective immunosuppressive responses. CONCLUSIONS: This study offers novel in vivo evidence that alcohol-induced changes in immune function are dependent on both acute dose and chronic drinking behavior.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Pain Severity and Experiences with Pain Management Predict Alcohol Use Among Men Who Have Sex with Men Living with HIV

  AIDS and Behavior · 2025-02-10 · 2 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Efficacy of Behavioral Intervention, Text Messaging, and Extended Intervention to Address Alcohol Misuse in Sexual Minority Men with HIV: A Factorial Randomized Clinical Trial

  AIDS and Behavior · 2024-09-13 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Alcohol-associated liver disease and behavioral and medical cofactors: unmet needs and opportunities

  Frontiers in Public Health · 2024-04-04 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Chronic liver disease is a leading cause of death in the US and is often preventable. Rising burden, cost, and fatality due to liver disease are driven by intensified alcohol use in the US population and the contributions of comorbid conditions. This mini-review focuses on the topic of liver health in the context of chronic, behavioral cofactors of disease, using research-based examples from the Brown University Center for Addiction and Disease Risk Exacerbation (CADRE). Our aim is to illustrate the current challenges and opportunities in clinical research addressing liver health in the context of behavioral and medical comorbidity and to highlight next steps in this crucial area of public health research and clinical care.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Validation of group process assessment for youth who misuse substances: Group level coding

  Journal of Community Safety and Well-Being · 2024-12-13

  articleOpen access

  Group interventions are commonly used for treating youth. Assessing group processes during intervention has presented challenges. The present study evaluated the psychometric properties of a group process-group level measure. This measure examined behaviours (e.g., positive or deviant) of incarcerated youth during group substance use interventions. Adolescents and counsellors completed a series of questions after each group session (n = 584 sessions). Observers rated group behaviour from 153 video-recorded sessions. The results supported internal consistency (median α = 0.78), inter-rater reliability (median α = .63), and validity (e.g., r = 0.12–0.82, p < 0.01). Importantly, a measure with demonstrated reliability and validity at the group level can be part of quality control for researchers and practitioners when individual-level ratings are not needed or too costly.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Social Network Characteristics of Covid-19 Vaccination and Preventive Health Behaviors: Cross-Sectional Findings from the Us Northeast During the Early Covid-19 Pandemic

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Social network characteristics of COVID-19 vaccination and preventive health behaviors: Cross-sectional findings from the US northeast during the early COVID-19 pandemic

  Vaccine X · 2024-10-29 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Background: The link between individuals' vaccine attitudes and their social networks has been widely studied, but less is known about how these networks impact broader health behaviors like precautionary measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Egocentric social network data were collected from June 7-21, 2021, via an online survey by researchers based at the Brown University School of Public Health. The sample (n = 173) was recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. Participants reported their COVID-19 precautionary behaviors and those of up to 5 of their closest social network contacts (SNCs, n = 851). The primary outcome was the mean of 13 CDC-recommended precautionary behaviors (PBS). Covariates included SNCs' COVID-19 testing, hospitalization, vaccination, disease experiences, social distancing adherence, and encouragement of participants' testing and vaccination. Associations between PBS and SNC attributes were assessed using chi-square tests, t-tests, and Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE). Results: Eighty percent of participants had received at least one vaccine dose. The PBS ranged from 0.38 to 3.00 (M = 2.3) and was positively associated with SNCs' adherence to social distancing guidelines (0.33, p < 0.001), encouragement of social distancing (0.33, p < 0.001), encouragement of vaccination (0.25, p = 0.001), mask-wearing behavior (0.20, p = 0.008), receiving the vaccine (0.20, p = 0.01), and encouragement of testing (0.17, p < 0.05). Discussion: The clustering of precautionary behaviors in social networks highlights the potential of leveraging these networks to promote public health interventions. The identification of clusters of unprotected communities at risk underscores the need to address disparities and integrate interpersonal factors into future pandemic responses.

  PublisherDOI

• Black social media influencers engage higher percentages of Black gay and bisexual men in online outreach for HIV prevention research relative to paid ads

  Digital Health · 2024-05-13 · 9 citations

  articleOpen access

  Background: Influencer-based social media marketing campaigns are a popular strategy to engage customers in many non-research industries (e.g., retail), but have been increasingly used in public health campaigns to reach and engage specific populations. However, few studies have directly compared the performance of influencer-based marketing with other ad strategies (e.g., paid ads) in achieving these goals. Methods: From March to September 2023, we conducted an influencer-focused marketing campaign in which we identified and partnered with predominantly Black LGBTQ + influencers in the United States South to promote engagement in our ongoing research. We then used web analytics and interest form data to compare performance of influencer posts versus paid ads over the same time period. Results: We contacted a total of 358 influencers, 20 of whom ultimately agreed to post (85% Black/African American) and made a total of 28 posts on our behalf. A significantly higher percentage of users who clicked through influencer posts were Black (40% vs. 15%), were not currently using pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) (67% vs. 62%), had no history of PrEP use (78% vs. 72%), and reported higher medical mistrust (12% vs. 8%) compared to those who clicked through paid ads. The percentage of Black men who have sex with men who were at high HIV risk, who were not taking PrEP, had no history of PrEP, or were high in mistrust, were all 2-3 times higher among those who clicked through influencer posts relative to paid ads. Conclusions: Influencer-focused marketing may be a powerful tool to efficiently reach and engage high-priority and hard to reach populations.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Social Network Characteristics of Covid-19 Vaccination: Cross-Sectional Findings from the Us Northeast

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R01DA004859

  NIH · $2.6M · 1998

• Addressing alcohol misuse in HIV prevention and care: The Brown University Alcohol Research Center on HIV (ARCH)

  NIH · $39.3M · 2010–2026

• NIH Grant K05AA019681

  NIH · $1.2M · 2017

• Alcohol Intervention Treatment Outcome Research Training

  NIH · $17.0M · 1986–2026

• NIH Grant R01AA007850

  NIH · $12.2M · 2017

Frequent coauthors

• Suzanne M. Colby

  Providence College

  592 shared

• Damaris J. Rohsenow

  Brown University

  534 shared

• Nancy P. Barnett

  John Brown University

  306 shared

• David B. Abrams

  New York University

  232 shared

• Christopher W. Kahler

  Brown University

  214 shared

• Robert M. Swift

  Providence VA Medical Center

  199 shared

• Sandra A. Brown

  University of California, San Diego

  182 shared

• Robert Miranda

  Brown University

  168 shared

Education

• Ph.D.

  Brown University

Awards & honors

• Distinguished Researcher Award from Section VIII of APA’s Di…
• Musiker-Merenda Award from the Rhode Island Psychological As…
• Distinguished Researcher Award from the Association of Medic…
• Distinguished Researcher Award (2006)
• Marlatt Mentorship Award (2013)