Mark A. Ilgen, Ph.D.

Mark A. Ilgen, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist, a professor of psychiatry, and an investigator with the VA Center for Clinical Management Research (CCMR) at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. Much of his current work focuses on improving treatment outcomes for patients struggling with substance use disorders and complicated co-occurring problems, particularly chronic pain, other psychiatric disorders, and suicide risk. In working with adults who have drug and alcohol problems, his goal is to help them reverse the course of addiction as quickly as possible to minimize the damaging effects on other areas of their lives.

For individuals grappling with both addiction and chronic pain, Dr. Ilgen has developed an intervention that can help address both problems and also minimize the treatment challenges that opioids, cannabis and alcohol often present for this population. He is in the process of conducting research to determine the potential effectiveness of this intervention. Dr. Ilgen is also keenly interested in evaluating addiction treatment approaches to identify the factors most important to patient motivation, quality of life during treatment, and outcomes. He is also the principal investigator of a study to better understand marijuana use for pain management and the potential implications for patient outcomes as well as health policy.