Dr. Pagano is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child Psychiatry, at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Her primary research interests focus on what factors impact addiction recovery in adults and young people.

Dr. Pagano is a licensed psychologist with extensive experience as a research scientist. She has been a Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator in over 15 federally-funded clinical investigations, 10 clinical trials, and several clinical training grant awards. She has been the Senior Statistician on six major research grants with clinical populations featuring severe mental illness. With support from the John Templeton Foundation, Dr. Pagano is examining the factors that impact the course of addiction recovery among 100 girls and 100 boys court-referred for residential treatment.