B.A. Psychology - 1972
Duquesne University

M.A. Psychology - 1973
State University of New York, College at Brockport

P.h.D. Psychology - 1984
University of Pittsburgh

Introduction to Research Methods
Drug Use and Misuse
Social and Behavioral Core Course (team taught)
Doctoral Research Seminar
Developmental Psychology
Human Sexuality
Introductory Psychology
Introductory Statistics
Preventive Medicine
Psychology of Women
Social Psychology

Administrative Council, LSU School of Public Health, 2005 - present
Admissions Committee, Department of Community Health Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Member, 2000 - 2002; Chair 2002 - 2004
AIDS, Clinical Research, and Epidemiology Initial Review Group, NIH study section, appt. expected July 2007
Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure Committee, LSU School of Public Health, 2005 - present
Board of Directors, NY Harm Reduction Educators, Inc. (Administers the Bronx-Harlem Needle Exchange, NYC's largest exchange), member, 1994 - 2000. Chair, 1996 - 2000
Board of Trustees, NO/AIDS Task Force, New Orleans, LA, 2003 - Present
Committee on Use of Human Subjects, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, 2001 - 2005
Curriculum, Evaluation, and Recruitment Committee, LSU School of Public Health, 2005 - present
Department Admissions Committee, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 2003 - 2005
Development Committee, Department of Community Health Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, 2000 - 2005
Doctoral Committee, Department of Community Health Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Chair, 2004 - 2005
Faculty Senate, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Secretary, April 2004 - April 2005
Grievance Committee, Department of Community Health Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Chair, 2003
Program Committee, 5th National Harm Reduction Conference, New Orleans, LA, 2003 - 2004
Psychology Department Colloquium Committee, University of Pittsburgh, 1980 - 1982
Publications Committee, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Cooperative Agreement for AIDS Community-Based Outreach/Intervention Research Program, 1991 - 1996
Search Committee, Laboratory of Health Behavior Research, Cornell University Medical
Steering Committee, Center for Drug Use and HIV Research, National Development and Research Institutes, 1998 - 2004
Trial Concept Writing Team, HIV Network for Prevention, National Institute on Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), 1998 – 2000
West Virginia Northern Community College Faculty Senate: Vice-President, Executive Committee, 1974 - 1977; Appeals Committee, 1976
Women & HIV Infection Investigators Group, National Research Consortium of NIDA-funded researchers, Co-Chair, 1997 - 1999
Women's Committee, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Cooperative Agreement for AIDS Community-Based Outreach/Intervention Research Program, Co-Chair, 1991 - 1996

Botvin, G.J., and Tortu S., Developing personal coping skills and healthy peer relations as a substance abuse prevention strategy., Journal of Chemical Dependency Treatment 1: 245-267, 1988.

Botvin, G., Baker, E., Tortu, S., Dusenbury, L., Gessula, J., Smokeless tobacco use among adolescents: correlates and concurrent predictors, Journal of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics 10 (4): 181-186, 1989.

Tortu, S., and Botvin, G.J., School-Based Smoking Prevention: The Teacher Training Process, Preventive Medicine 18: 280-289, 1989.

Botvin, G.J., Baker, E., Dusenbury, L., Tortu, S., Botvin, E., Preventing adolescent drug abuse through a multimodal cognitive-behavioral approach: results of a 3-year study, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 58 (4): 437-446, 1990.

Botvin, G., Tortu, S., Baker, E., Dusenbury, L., Preventing adolescent cigarette smoking: Resistance skills training and the development of life skills, Special Services in the Schools 6 (1/2): 37-61, 1990.

Deren, S., Davis, W.R., Beardsley, M., Tortu, S., Clatts, M., Outcomes of a risk-reduction intervention with high risk populations: the Harlem AIDS project., AIDS Education and Prevention 7 (5): 379-390, 1995.

Ziek, K., Beardsley, M., Deren, S., & Tortu, S., Predictors of follow-up in a sample of urban crack users, Evaluation and Program Planning 19 (3): 219-224, 1996.

Tortu, S., Deren, S., & Beardsley, M., Factors associated with needle exchange use in East Harlem, NY, Journal of Drug Issues 26 (4): 735-749, 1996.

Deren, S., Kotranski, L., Beardsley, M., Collier, K., Tortu, S., Semaan, S., Lauby, J., Hamid, R., Crack users in East Harlem, New York and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: HIV–related risk behaviors and predictors of serostatus, American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse 23 (4): 555-567, 1997.

Davis, W.R., Derens, S., Beardsley, M, Wenston, J., Tortu, S., Gender differences and other factors assocciated with HIV testing in a national sample of active drug injectors, AIDS Education and Prevention 9 (4): 342-358, 1997.

Tortu, S., Goldstein, M.F., Deren, S., Beardsley, M., Hamid, R. and Ziek, K., Urban crack users: gender differences in drug use, HIV risk and health status, Women & Health 27 (1/2): 177-190, 1998.

Wood, M.M., Tortu, S., Rhodes, F., Deren, S., Differences in condom behaviors and beliefs among female drug users recruited from two cities, Women & Health 27 (1/2):137-160, 1998.

Deren, S., Beardsley, M., Tortu, S., Goldstein , M.F., HIV serostatus and changes in risk behaviors among drug injectors and crack users, AIDS and Behavior. Special Issue: Risk Behavior Practices of Men and Women Living with HIV-AIDS 2 (2): 171-176, 1998.

Stevens, S., Tortu, S., Coyle, S., Women drug users and HIV prevention: Overview of findings and research needs, Women & Health 27 (1/2):19-23, 1998.

Tortu, S., McCoy, H.V., Beardsley, M., Deren, S., & McCoy, C., Predictors of HIV serostatus in women in NYC and Miami, Women & Health 27 (1/2):191-204, 1998.

Deren, S., Goldstein, M., Williams, M., Stark, M., Estrada, A., Friedman, S.R., Young, R.M., Needle, R., Tortu, S., Saunders, L., Beardsley, M., Jose, B., McCoy, V., Sexual orientation, HIV risk behavior, and serostatus in a multisite sample of drug-injecting and crack using women, Women’s Health: Research on Gender, Behavior, and Policy 2: 35-47, 1998.

Des Jarlais, D.C., Perlis, T., Friedman, S.R., Deren, S., Chapman, T., Sotheran, J.L., Tortu, S., Beardsley, M., Paone, D., Torian, L.V., Beatrice, S.T., DeBernardo, E., Monterosso, E., Marmor, M., Declining sero-prevalence in a very large HIV epidemic: Injecting Drug Users in NYC, 1991-1996, American Journal of Public Health 88: 1801-1806, 1998.

Deren, S., Beardsley, M., Tortu, S., Goldstein , M.F., Predictors of change in frequency of crack cocaine use in a street-recruited sample, The American Journal on Addiction 8 (2): 94-100, 1999.

Beardsley, M., Deren, S., Tortu, S., Goldstein, M., Ziek, K., & Hamid, R., Trends in injection risk behaviors in a sample of New York City injection drug users, Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes and Human Retrovirology 20: 283-289, 1999.

Hamid, R., Deren, S., Beardsley, M., Tortu, S., Agreement between urinalysis and self-reported drug use, Substance Use & Misuse 34: 1585-1592, 1999.

Tortu, S., Beardsley, M., Deren, S., Williams, M., McCoy, H.V., Stark, M., Estrada, A., Goldstein, M., HIV Infection and patterns of risk among women drug injectors and crack users in low and high sero-prevalence sites, AIDS Care 12 (1): 65-76, 2000.

Goldstein, M. F.; Deren,S.; Magura, S.; Kayman, D. J.; Beardsley, M. & Tortu, S, Cessation of drug use: impact of time in treatment, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 32 (3): 305-310, 2000.

Tortu, S., McMahon, J., Hamid, R. & Neaigus, A., Drug using women’s sexual risk: an event analysis, AIDS and Behavior 4 (4): 329-340, 2000.

Ziek, K., Goldstein, M., Beardsley, M., Deren, S., Tortu, S, Factors associated with HIV testing and returning for test results in a sample of out-of-treatment drug users, Journal of Drug Issues 30 (3): 675-686, 2000.

Tortu, S., Neaigus, A., McMahon, J., Hagan, D., Hepatitis C among non-injecting drug users: A report, Substance Use and Misuse 36 (4): 523-534, 2001.

McMahon, J. and Tortu, S., A potential hidden source of Hepatitis C infection among non-injecting drug users, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 35 (4): 455-460, 2003.

Deren, S., Fuller, C., Pouget, E., Blaney, S., Tortu, S., Kang, Sung-Yeon, Andia, J., Des Jarlais, D., Johnson, B., Rosenblum, A., Vlahov, D., Impact of expanding syringe access in New York on sources of syringes for injection drug users in Harlem and the Bronx, NYC, USA, The International Journal of Drug Policy (14): 373-379, 2003.

Tortu, S., McMahon, J., Hamid, R. & Neaigus, A., Women’s drug injection practices in East Harlem: An event analysis in a high risk community, AIDS and Behavior 7 (3): 317-328, 2003.

McMahon, J. & Tortu, S., Evaluation of HIV intervention scenarios targeted to drug using women from East Harlem: a mathematical modeling approach, NIDA/CAMCODA Working Meeting, May 6-7, 2002. Strategies to Improve the Replicability, Sustainability, and Durability of HIV Prevention Interventions for Drug-Users 51-62, 2003.

McMahon, J., Tortu, S., Torres, L., Pouget, ER, Hamid, R., Recruitment of heterosexual couples in public health research: a study protocol, BMC Medical Research Methodology 3: 24, 2003.

Tortu, S., McMahon, J., Pouget, E., Hamid, R., Sharing of non-injection drug-use implements as a risk factor for Hepatitis C, Substance Use and Misuse 39 (2): 211-224, 2004.

Pouget, E. R., Deren, S., Fuller, C. M., Blaney, S., McMahon, J. M., Kang, S-y., Tortu, S., Andia, J. F., Des Jarlais, D. C., & Vlahov, D., Receptive syringe sharing among injection drug users in Harlem and the Bronx during the New York State Expanded Syringe Access Demonstration Program, JAIDS 39: 471-477, 2005.

McMahon, J. M., Pouget, E. R., & Tortu, S., A guide for multilevel modeling of dyadic data with binary outcomes using SAS PROC NLMIXED, Computational Statistics and Data Analysis 50 (12): 3663-3680, 2006.

McMahon, J. M., Tortu, S., Pouget, E. R., Hamid, R., & Neaigus, A., Contextual determinants of condom use among female sex exchangers in East Harlem, NYC: An event analysis, AIDS & Behavior , In Press.