Overdose deaths are increasing, despite efforts by governments to address illicit drug use and implement public health approaches. A significant reason is the increasing prevalence of xylazine (tranq), an alpha-2 adrenergic agonist and central nervous system depressant present in the fentanyl drug supply.

It’s imperative that we further our knowledge and understanding on smoking as a harm reduction strategy, and begin to identify and promote safer, evidence-based methods people can utilize while smoking to reduce health risks.

The findings are meant to educate everyone, but the average reader has no idea how to interpret the complex jargon.

Now in its second year, Babson SUD Sprint (formerly L-SPRINT) is a 6-day bespoke program in entrepreneurship and commercialization for researchers and inventors tackling substance use disorders (SUD)/drug addiction, taught at the world’s #1 college for entrepreneurship.

"I have no doubt that Dr. Boyle has an outstanding career ahead of her as a scientist in the field of addictions research."

Over his 50 years at Brown University, Professor Peter Monti has not only been witness to a sea change in our understanding of addictive disorders, but has contributed to that understanding with his research and leadership. At the School of Public Health’s 10th anniversary, he reflects on the decades of work defining Brown’s public health legacy.

Robert Swift, MD PhD recently joined Bear in Mind, the Brown Psychiatry Podcast, for part 1 of a discussion on substance use disorders.

Dr. Molly Magill and colleagues recently published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Melissa Pielech and Robert Miranda, in conjunction with co-authors and the Society of Behavioral Medicine, published a policy position statement advocating for allocating funds from opioid settlement lawsuits towards expansion of youth substance use treatment.

Patricia Cioe and colleagues Publish Manuscript on App-Delivered Mindfulness Training to Reduce Anxiety in People with HIV who Smoke

Dr. Jasjit S. Ahluwalia has been awarded the 2023 Health Equity SIG Lifetime Achievement Award, which will be presented at the Society of Behavioral Medicine's annual scientific meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. This year's meeting takes place April 26-29.

David G. Zelaya was appointed to serve on the American Psychological Association's Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs (CEMA).

Safety, feasibility, and acceptability of MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of co-occurring alcohol use disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder in veterans.

Rachel Cassidy recently was interviewed about the potential for the FDA's newly announced nicotine reduction policy to affect smokers. "We don't want to create a prohibition on nicotine. What we want is for people to shift from combustible cigarettes, which are incredibly harmful — they kill half the people who use them past the age of 40 — to other forms of nicotine which are far less harmful," Cassidy said.

Researchers at JCOIN’s Brown University Clinical Research Center, developed the Prescription Drug Abuse Policy System (PDAPS).

Drs. Gunn, Aston, and Metrik published a review paper, "Patterns of cannabis and alcohol co-use: Substitution versus complementary effects" in Alcohol Research: Current Reviews. (image credit: Jorge Láscar, Wikimedia Commons)

CAAS Senior Research Assistant Jake Tempchin will matriculate this fall at the University of Memphis in pursuit of a PhD in clinical psychology. He will study with Dr. Jim Murphy, focusing on behavioral economics, motivational interviewing, and the implementation of interventions to reduce harms experienced from substance use.

Led by Dr. Patricia Cioe, the lab now has its very own Facebook page.

Dr. David Zelaya recently published "Psychometric validation and extension of the LGBT people of Color Microaggressions Scale with a sample of sexual minority BIPOC college students" in the journal Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity. Dr. Zelaya's research provides further rigorous statistical support and evidence for researchers and clinicians to use the LGBT People of Color Microaggressions Scale. Additionally, findings from the study allows for more nuanced ways to capture the frequency (i.e., within the past year and lifetime) and appraisal of stress associated with intersectional forms of discrimination.

Dr. Christy Capone and colleagues recently published primary outcomes of an RCT funded by the DoD examining a psychotherapy focused on trauma-related guilt and shame in post-9/11 veterans. Results found that Trauma Informed Guilt Reduction (TrIGR) resulted in significant reductions in guilt and PTSD and depressive symptoms as compared to Supportive Care Therapy. The research appears in the journal Depression and Anxiety.

Matthew Meisel had a paper accepted for publication in the journal BMC Psychology. In the manuscript, in a sample of emerging adults who never attended 4-year college, the authors found that most of the sample experienced some form of education-based stigma and discrimination and that these experiences were associated with worse mental health symptoms.

Peter M. Monti, Ph.D., will step down from the role of director of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies (CAAS)

Dr. Lauren Micalizzi, along with Brown University co-authors, recently published their manuscript "A psychometric assessment of the Brief Situational Confidence Questionnaire for Marijuana (BSCQ-M) in juvenile justice-involved youth" in Addictive Behaviors.

Highlights of the manuscript include: the study provided the first test of the psychometric properties of the BSCQ-M; findings indicated a three-factor structure; BSCQ-M scores showed convergent validity with past 30-day cannabis use; and the BSCQ-M can be implemented quickly and effectively among justice involved youth.

Interested in how neuroscience is relevant to wellness, flourishing & human rights?

Dr. Patricia Cioe and her study team are excited to welcome their new Research Assistant, Sophie Lazar, to CAAS!

Dr. Becker is the ninth recipient of an NIH merit award, the second health services researcher, the first implementation scientist, and the first woman to win this award at Brown University since the program was started in 1986.

Dr. Molly Magill has received a Notice of Grant Award for a U13 Conference Grant from the NIAAA with MPI Dr. Stephen Maisto from Syracuse University.

Dr. Kelli Scott and collaborators at CAAS and the Brown University Center for Evidence Synthesis in Health recently published, "Pharmacotherapy interventions for adolescent co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders: a systematic review" in Family Practice. Findings from the review suggest that pharmacotherapy for mental health is insufficient for addressing substance use, suggesting the need for additional intervention for teens with substance use problems.

Co-authors include: Drs. Sara Becker, Sarah Helseth, Ian J Saldanha, Ethan M Balk, Gaelen P Adam, Kristin J Konnyu, Dale W Steele

Dr. Nathan Kearns recently published a new first-author manuscript "Effects of bodily arousal on desire to drink alcohol among trauma-exposed college students" in Alcohol.

Generally, findings suggest that bodily arousal may only serve as an implicit, trauma-relevant interoceptive cue that increases desire to drink within a specific subset of trauma-exposed college students (i.e., individuals indexing interpersonal trauma).

These fellows will spend the next few years focused on innovative research, advanced dissemination and implementation strategies, and public education.

Welcome Bianca Camacho and Emily Alton, our newest research assistants at CAAS!

The Project RAVEN team is happy to welcome Jake Tempchin, their new Senior Research Assistant, to CAAS and Brown.

Check out Grace Kim's poster on an app aimed to reduce cannibis use among youths.

In a new paper, Dr. Tara White and Meg Gonsalves propose that human rights are deeply rooted in human brain science, which provides a novel evidentiary base informing the universality, scope, and content of human rights and their relationship to human dignity. Their paper, "Dignity neuroscience: universal rights are rooted in human brain science" was published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences on August 5, 2021.

Congratulations to Dr. Arryn Guy, current CAAS Postdoctoral Fellow, for being selected to receive a Loan Repayment Program award from the Clinical through the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism!

Congratulations to Dr. Lauren Micalizzi who has recently been named Associate Editor of the Journal of Child and Family Studies.

Mo Akande will be pursuing a Ph.D. in Population, Family and Reproductive Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health advancing her passion for preventing violence domestically and globally.

Dr. Rachel Cassidy is part of a team that received an R01 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to study the impact of new graphic warning labels for cigarillo packaging on young adult tobacco use behavior.

Dr. Aditya Khanna was recently featured in three media interviews from the Chattanooga Times Free Press and the Vermont Digger discussing COVID-19 testing, the emergence of new variants, and reopening timelines.

The APA Division 50 summer 2021 SoAP Box Newsletter featured Dr. Melissa Pielech as the Early Career Psychologist Spotlight!

The New England Addiction Technology Transfer Network (ATTC) has a new team member!

Assistant Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Dr. Aditya Khanna, recently published in the journal Mathematical and Biosciences and Engineering.