Sterner contributes to article about opioid settlement funds reaching rural communities
Dec 14, 2022
Glenn Sterner , a Social Science Research Institute co-funded faculty member and assistant professor of criminal justice at Penn State Abington, contributed to an article on CNN and KHN about how opioid settlement funds are often shortchanged by rural communities. The article mentions that…
Penn State team leads effort to prevent youth substance misuse in PA
Apr 11, 2022
A team of Penn State experts from Evidence-based Implementation and Intervention Support (EPIS) is leading the five-year Opioid Misuse Prevention Project (OMPP) to support community-based partnerships throughout Pennsylvania to help prevent substance misuse and promote healthy development in young…
How understanding neighborhoods can help reduce tobacco use
Jan 4, 2022
A Penn State researcher testing a new way to assess tobacco use with a neighborhood mapping platform and in-person interviews has found that community engagement is key to addressing risky health behaviors. Cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United…
Education project to help improve data on drug overdose deaths
Sep 27, 2021
A new Penn State-led project is educating coroners, medical examiners, and others in the death certifier community in Pennsylvania about the reporting of substances associated with accidental overdose. The project, known as the Death Certifier Education Project, is a collaborative effort with the…
Can mindful yoga reduce opioid dependence?
Sep 27, 2021
With more than 100 people dying from opioid overdoses each day in the U.S., new approaches to treating opioid-use disorders are needed. Emma Rose, assistant research professor with Penn State's Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, is leading a study that adds twice-weekly mindfulness-…
HHD professor and graduate students “rappel for recovery”
Sep 7, 2021
As part of National Recovery Month, Hobart ‘Bo’ Cleveland, SSRI cofunded faculty member and professor of human development and family studies, Erik Dolgoff, graduate student in human development and family studies, and Samuel Wakely Stull, graduate student in biobehavioral health, recently…
Abstracts wanted for Sixth Annual Penn State Addiction Symposium
Nov 2, 2020
Penn State Addiction Center for Translation is accepting abstracts for virtual oral poster and “data blitz” presentations at the center's Sixth Annual Penn State Addiction Symposium. Submit a 250-word abstract, complete with title, author(s), affiliations, and presenter's email address to PSACT@…
Turrisi advises parents in a new video series about teen alcohol use
May 21, 2020
Parents with questions about how to protect their teens from the dangers of alcohol and other drugs can now receive research-based advice from videos featuring Robert Turrisi, a Penn State professor of biobehavioral health with more than 35 years of experience in researching underage drinking.…
PROSPER featured in White House "Rural Community Action Guide: Building Stronger, Healthy Drug-Free Rural Communities"
Feb 11, 2020
PROSPER is featured on page 43 of this new tool released by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), to assist rural community leaders in building an effective local response to the crisis of addiction.The Rural Community Action Guide includes background information, recommended action…
The Real Dangers of Equating Opioid Dependence with Addiction
Jan 22, 2020
The National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives (NPSC) and the Congressional Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus (ATR) co-hosted a briefing with internationally recognized experts to discuss the dual challenges of addiction and dependence in developing policy responses to the…
Researchers receive nearly $5 million to curb opioid cravings
Dec 10, 2019
Opioid overdoses take the lives of tens of thousands of Americans annually. Two researchers from Penn State College of Medicine have received nearly $5 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study whether an already-approved drug can be used to reduce cravings and prevent relapse…
Penn State's Project ECHO awarded $1.5M to address substance abuse
Nov 22, 2019
Project ECHO at Penn State College of Medicine will use a $1.5 million federal grant to address underage drinking and opioid use in 10 rural counties in central Pennsylvania. The five-year grant was awarded by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Blair, Bradford,…
Registration open for fifth annual Penn State Addiction Symposium on Dec. 10
Nov 14, 2019
Registration is open for Penn State Addiction Center for Translation’s fifth annual Penn State Addiction Symposium. This symposium will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Dec. 10 at Junker Auditorium, Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. This symposium will feature preclinical and…
Penn State, PA team up to promote treatments for substance abuse disorders
Oct 31, 2019
The opioid epidemic and larger problems of substance misuse continue to deeply impact communities across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the nation. In 2017, more than 70,000 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States, with Pennsylvania ranking third with the highest rates of death due…
New project to track post-prison trajectories of men living with addiction
Oct 31, 2019
Despite widespread national attention, the opioid epidemic and larger problems of substance use and misuse continue to deeply affect communities across Pennsylvania and throughout the nation. The impact of the opioid crisis and other substance abuse problems hits even harder for people grappling…
College of Medicine researchers receive NIH funding for addiction research
Oct 27, 2019
The National Institutes of Health have awarded more than $2 million to Patricia “Sue” Grigson, professor and chair in the Department of Neural and Behavioral Sciences, and Scott Bunce, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral health and clinical psychologist, as part of the Helping to End…
2019 Bennett Lecture discusses how mindfulness can help treat people living with addiction
Oct 27, 2019
Mindfulness was the topic at hand for this year’s Bennett Lecture in Prevention Science, held on Oct. 15 in 110 Henderson Building. The Bennett Lecture is an annual fall eventhosted by the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center. This year’s speaker, Katie Witkiewitz, professor of psychology…
Collaborative Community Service Conference offers opiate addiction resources
Oct 23, 2019
Penn State Schuylkill and Lehigh Valley Hospital – Schuylkill collaborated to present “Opioids: The Crisis Next Door,” a free conference held on campus Sept. 19 that detailed the facts and signs of addiction, as well as the resources available to help community members affected by the epidemic. The…
Professor to moderate congressional briefing on opioid dependence, addiction
Oct 16, 2019
Diana Fishbein, professor of human development and family studies and director of the Program of Translational Research on Adversity Neurodevelopment in the Prevention Research Center at Penn State, is co-organizing and moderating the congressional briefing, “The Real Dangers of Equating Opioid…
2019 Bennett Lecture to focus on mindfulness-based Interventions for addiction
Oct 10, 2019
On Oct. 15, at 4 p.m., Katie Witkiewitz, psychology professor at the University of New Mexico, will present the 2019 Bennett Lecture in Prevention Science, "Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Addiction: Making a Better Band-Aid," in 110 Henderson Building. The event is free and open to the public…
Lecture series continues with "Mindful Living to Overcome Opioid Addiction"
Oct 7, 2019
The Penn State Shenango 2019-20 Lecture Series will continue with a presentation by Tammy Divens, assistant teaching professor in occupational therapy at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 17 in Lecture Hall 223. Divens’ lecture, “Mindful Living to Overcome Opioid Addiction,” will share on mindsets that influence…
Abstracts can be submitted for fifth annual Penn State Addiction Symposium
Sep 30, 2019
The Penn State Addiction Center for Translation is accepting abstracts for consideration as poster and oral presentations at the center's fifth annual Penn State Addiction Symposium. Send a 250-word abstract, complete with title, author(s), affiliations and the presenter's email address, to PSACT@…
Schuylkill nursing professor researches impact of opioid addiction on families
Sep 25, 2019
Marianne Adam, associate teaching professor in the College of Nursing at Penn State Schuylkill, has been an asset to the Penn State nursing community, educating future nurses while researching substantial health issues ranging from palliative care, diabetes, and her current focus — the opioid…
Training program available to recovering addicts
Sep 19, 2019
If you have a history of addiction recovery and want to help others, Penn State Shenango will host a Beaver campus Continuing Education course on “Certified Recovery Specialist Training” from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Saturdays, beginning Oct. 5 and ending Dec. 14, in Sharon Hall room 108 in downtown…
Examining state policies governing opioid use and pregnancy
Sep 19, 2019
Opioid use disorders during pregnancy have risen at alarming rates in the U.S. in recent years, increasing the risks of preterm labor and delivery, poor fetal growth, prolonged hospital stays, maternal death and stillborn infants. Maternal opioid use can also result in neonatal abstinence syndrome…