Cara C. Lewis, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and Beck Scholar recognized by the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. She is interested in developing strategies to improve the integration of evidence-based practices, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, into real-world settings, such as community mental health centers.
Dr. Lewis is an international leader in implementation science, serving as past president of the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC). In 2020, SIRC and Sage Publications launched a new journal, Implementation Research and Practice, with Dr. Lewis serving as co-founding editor-in-chief. In 2021, she was recognized as one of the world’s top 25 researchers publishing in the journal Implementation Science. She has also served as expert faculty for the Implementation Research Institute, scientific advisory board member for AcademyHealth’s 10th Annual Conference on Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health, panelist for the National Institutes of Health implementation science study section, and adviser to 2 national implementation science centers (Ireland and Australia). She has been recognized by 3 of psychology’s largest associations for her early career accomplishments:
Dr. Lewis’ research is funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). She recently completed 2 NIMH-funded R01s as the principal investigator (PI). One was a multi-site implementation trial with the goal of comparing the effectiveness of standardized versus tailored approaches to implementing measurement-based care for depression. The other had the goal to advance implementation science by developing and evaluating measures as well as a pragmatic and psychometric evidence rating scale. Her newest R01 from NCI is also focused on developing and disseminating methods and measures to advance the science and practice of implementation with an emphasis on implementation strategy mechanisms.
She is also PI of 2 implementation science centers (one from NCI and the other from NIMH). These centers seek to optimize evidence-based practice implementation by developing, testing, refining, and disseminating new methods that leverage Agile Science.
In 2021, Dr. Lewis became co-director of SONNET: the Social Needs Network for Evaluation and Translation, funded by Kaiser Permanente's National Office of Community Health, which aims to address the social risks and needs of Kaiser Permanente members. She recently completed a national representative survey of Kaiser Permanente members to understand their social risks and needs and their perceptions of the role of the health system in addressing these needs. In addition, she co-leads social health projects and provides implementation science expertise within KPWHRI’s Center for Accelerating Care Transformation.
She is also PI of an AHRQ-funded R13 conference grant bringing together a Mechanisms Network of Expertise to develop and disseminate an implementation research agenda for streamlining and increasing the impact of strategies to integrate evidence-based programs into routine care.
Dr. Lewis is an affiliate associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Mechanisms of change; adolescent and adult depression; predictors, moderators and mediators of outcome; therapy knowledge and competence; training; supervision
Measures and methodologies; tailored approaches; measurement-based care; health information technologies; cluster randomized trials; systematic reviews
Social needs-targeted care; social needs-informed care; community resource specialist; screening tools
Scott K, Lewis CC, Marti CN. Trajectories of symptom change in the Ttreatment for Adolescents with Depression Study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2019 Mar;58(3):319-328. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2018.07.908. Epub 2019 Jan 8. PubMed
Stanick CF, Halko HM, Dorsey CN, Weiner BJ, Powell BJ, Palinkas LA, Lewis CC. Operationalizing the 'pragmatic' measures construct using a stakeholder feedback and a multi-method approach. BMC Health Serv Res. 2018 Nov 22;18(1):882. doi: 10.1186/s12913-018-3709-2. PubMed
McKenzie CA, Meitinger T, Metspalu A, Milaneschi Y, Milani L, Mohlke KL, Momozawa Y, Nalls MA, Nelson CP, Sotoodehnia N, Norris JM, O'Connell JR, Palmer ND, Perls T, Pedersen NL, Peters A, Peyser PA, Poulter N, Raffel LJ, Raitakari OT, Roll K, Rose L+++. A Method for Tracking Implementation Strategies: An Exemplar Implementing Measurement-Based Care in Community Behavioral Health Clinics. PLoS One. 2018 Jun 18;13(6):e0198166. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0198166. eCollection 2018. PubMed
Lewis CC, Scott K, Marriott BR. A methodology for generating a tailored implementation blueprint: an exemplar from a youth residential setting. Implement Sci. 2018 May 16;13(1):68. doi: 10.1186/s13012-018-0761-6. PubMed
Walsh LM, Roddy MK, Scott K, Lewis CC, Jensen-Doss A. A meta-analysis of the effect of therapist experience on outcomes for clients with internalizing disorders. Psychother Res. 2019 Oct;29(7):846-859. doi: 10.1080/10503307.2018.1469802. Epub 2018 May 3. PubMed
Lewis CC, Mettert KD, Dorsey CN, Martinez RG, Weiner BJ, Nolen E, Stanick C, Halko H, Powell BJ. An updated protocol for a systematic review of implementation-related measures. Syst Rev. 2018;7(1):66. doi: 10.1186/s13643-018-0728-3. PubMed
Lewis CC, Marti CN, Marriott BR, Scott K, Ayer D. Patterns of practice in community mental health treatment of adult depression. Psychother Res. 2019 Jan;29(1):70-77. doi: 10.1080/10503307.2017.1303210. Epub 2017 Mar 22. PubMed
Lewis CC, Stanick C, Lyon A, Darnell D, Locke J, Puspitasari A, Marriott BR, Dorsey CN, Larson M, Jackson C, Thayer J, Bailey CW, Lengnick-Hall R, Dorsey S, Landes SJ. Proceedings of the fourth biennial conference of the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration (SIRC) 2017: implementation mechanisms: what makes implementation work and why? part 1. Implement Sci. 2018;13(Suppl 2):30. doi: 10.1186/s13012-018-0714-0. PubMed
Rodriguez-Quintana N, Lewis CC. Observational coding training methods for CBT treatment fidelity: a systematic review. Cognit Ther Res (2018). doi: 10.1007/s10608-018-9898-5.
Lewis CC, Puspitasari A, Boyd MR, Scott K, Marriott BR, Hoffman M, Navarro E, Kassab H. Implementing measurement based care in community mental health: a description of tailored and standardized methods. BMC Res Notes. 2018 Jan 27;11(1):76. doi: 10.1186/s13104-018-3193-0. PubMed
Cara Lewis, PhD, co-leads a new center to support using evidence-based practices in under-resourced settings such as schools.
Kayne Mettert reflects on lived experience — and his drive to reduce stigma around mental health disorders.
Katie Coleman and Cara Lewis will co-direct a national network that supports work to address members’ social health.
We profile the KPWHRI associate investigator, a clinical psychologist who also studies social factors that affect health.
Dr. Cara Lewis reflects on using implementation science to integrate patient-reported symptoms into behavioral health care.