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
Mahmud A, Cushing-Haugen K, Wellman R, Brown MC, Lewis CC. Understanding the relationship between social risk factors and COVID-19 contacts. Perm J. 2023 Apr 18:1-5. doi: 10.7812/TPP/22.146. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Lion KC, Zhou C, Fishman P, Senturia K, Cole A, Sherr K, Opel DJ, Stout J, Hazim CE, Warren L, Rains BH, Lewis CC. A sequential, multiple assignment randomized trial comparing web-based education to mobile video interpreter access for improving provider interpreter use in primary care clinics: the mVOCAL hybrid type 3 study protocol. Implement Sci. 2023 Mar 13;18(1):8. doi: 10.1186/s13012-023-01263-6. PubMed
Arterburn D, Tuzzio L, Anau J, Lewis CC, Williams N, Courcoulas A, Stilwell D, Tavakkoli A, Ahmed B, Wilcox M, Fischer GS, Paul K, Handley M, Gupta A, McTigue K. Identifying barriers to shared decision-making about bariatric surgery in two large health systems. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2023 Feb;31(2):565-573. doi: 10.1002/oby.23647. Epub 2023 Jan 12. PubMed
Meza RD, Moreland JC, Pullmann MD, Klasnja P, Lewis CC, Weiner BJ. Theorizing is for everybody: Advancing the process of theorizing in implementation science. Front Health Serv. 2023 Mar 10;3:1134931. doi: 10.3389/frhs.2023.1134931. eCollection 2023. PubMed
Marriott BR, Walker MR, Howard J, Puspitasari A, Scott K, Albright K, Lewis CC. Taking a magnifying glass to measurement-based care consultation sessions: With what issues do mental health clinicians struggle? Adm Policy Ment Health. 2022 Dec 21. doi: 10.1007/s10488-022-01244-9. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Hall A, Shoesmith A, Doherty E, McEvoy B, Mettert K, Lewis CC, Wolfenden L, Yoong S, Kingsland M, Shelton RC, Wiltsey Stirman S, Imad N, Sutherland R, Nathan N. Evaluation of measures of sustainability and sustainability determinants for use in community, public health, and clinical settings: A systematic review. Implement Sci. 2022 Dec 13;17(1):81. doi: 10.1186/s13012-022-01252-1. PubMed
Lewis CC, Jones SMW, Wellman R, Sharp AL, Gottlieb LM, Banegas MP, De Marchis E, Steiner JF. Social risks and social needs in a health insurance exchange sample: A longitudinal evaluation of utilization. BMC Health Serv Res. 2022 Nov 28;22(1):1430. doi: 10.1186/s12913-022-08740-6. PubMed
Jones SMW, Sherman KJ, Bermet Z, Palazzo LG, Lewis CC. Theory of planned behavior and mindfulness intentions in chronic low back pain. Mindfulness (N Y). 2022 Nov 10:1-8. doi: 10.1007/s12671-022-02022-2. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed
Oh AY, Emmons KM, Brownson RC, Glasgow RE, Foley KL, Lewis CC, Schnoll R, Huguet N, Caplon A, Chambers DA. Speeding implementation in cancer: the National Cancer Institute's Implementation Science in Cancer Control Centers. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2022 Oct 31:djac198. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djac198. Online ahead of print. PubMed
Lewis CC, Klasnja P, Lyon AR, Powell BJ, Lengnick-Hall R, Buchanan G, Meza RD, Chan MC, Boynton MH, Weiner BJ. The mechanics of implementation strategies and measures: Advancing the study of implementation mechanisms. Implement Sci Commun. 2022 Oct 22;3(1):114. doi: 10.1186/s43058-022-00358-3. 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.