Leadership
Jill M. Williams, MD, Medical Director and Co-Founder
Jill M. Williams, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry at the Rutgers University, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ. She received her medical degree at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and completed psychiatry residency training at Duke University. The focus of Dr. Williams work has been in addressing tobacco in individuals with mental illness or other addictions through treatment and systems interventions. Her work has been published in journals including JAMA, Nicotine and Tobacco Research and featured in US News and World Report. She is Medical Director for the TCTTAC Program in NYC, in collaboration with Center for Practice Innovation at Columbia University. In 2015 she was the recipient of the Remarkable Achievement Award of the NJ Psychiatric Association. She is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and former Chairperson for the APA Council on Addiction Psychiatry. She is co-author of the 2025 book entitled, Treating Addiction to Tobacco and Nicotine Products, a Guidebook for Clinicians, published by APA Press.
Trish Dooley Budsock, MA, LPC, CTTS, Program Director
Trish Dooley Budsock, MA, LPC, CTTS joined the CHOICES team in 2010 as Program Director. Trish has a Master’s Degree in Counselor Education, and is a Licensed Professional Counselor, as well as a Tobacco Treatment Specialist. Trish has been the clinician for a number of clinical trials specific to various medications and behavioral therapies for tobacco dependence in the SMI population in the Division of Addiction Psychiatry. In her role, Trish manages many of the day to day operations and helps to organize the CHOICES team.
Marie Verna, Advocacy Director and Co-Founder
Marie Verna is a Senior Training and Consultation Specialist at Rutgers University Behavioral Healthcare’s Center for Excellence in Psychiatry (CFEP) where she develops and delivers wellness and recovery curricula to champion teams at behavioral health organizations nationwide. She works with the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in developing a Wellness Action Plan and with the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (NJ-DMHS) to promote the integration of physical healthcare with mental healthcare. Prior to the CFEP, Marie was the Director of Advocacy at the Mental Health Association in New Jersey, where she prioritized the development of policy concerning tobacco cessation, the education of consumers about the risks of smoking, the discriminatory and critical shortage of tobacco-cessation services, and feasible recommendations for addressing wellness.
Margaret Molnar, Liaison to NJ Division of Mental Health Services
Margaret Molnar is the Special Assistant for Consumer Affairs to the NJ Division of Mental Health Services. Margaret is very committed to the needs of consumers and works with the Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services on a variety of projects dedicated to improving Wellness and Recovery in persons with mental illness.
