SSRI cofunded faculty featured in The Conversation
Several SSRI cofunded faculty members authored articles that appeared recently in The Conversation: Kristina Brant described the effects of severe flooding on overdose risk in Appalachia in this article Severe flooding raises deadly overdose risk in rural Appalachia. Anne Pisor reported on the…
Benefits of middle school program trickle down to next generation
A substance-use prevention program delivered to students and their families in the sixth and seventh grades led to wide-ranging benefits well into adulthood and — for those who became parents — even positively affected their children, according to a new study by researchers in the Penn State…
Brothers receives American Sociological Association’s Early Career Award
Sarah Brothers, assistant professor of sociology and public policy at Penn State, is the recipient of the American Sociological Association’s (ASA) inaugural Early Career Award for Community-Engaged Scholarship. The organization recognized Brothers for her “transformative work in drug policy” and…
Q&A: How do recovery community centers support people in recovery over time?
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — More than one in 10 adults in the United States believe they had a substance use problem at some point, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Among these adults, more than seven in 10 considered themselves to be in recovery. An…
What are the risks of cannabis use?
On April 26, the United States reclassified cannabis from a Schedule I controlled substance, which lacks any medical benefits, to a Schedule III controlled substance, which has accepted medical uses and lower potential for misuse than a Schedule I substance. Over the past two decades, cannabis has…
Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction to host seventh annual conference
The Social Science Research Institute’s Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction will host its seventh annual conference, in-person and via Zoom, on Monday, May 4 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Barron Innovation Hub at the University Park campus. The all-day event is free, but all in-person and…
Annual Substance Use and Addiction Conference to be held on May 4
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Social Science Research Institute’s Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction will host its seventh annual conference, in-person and via Zoom on Monday, May 4 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Barron Innovation Hub at the University Park campus. The all-day event is free, but…
Dispensaries are recommending cannabis for pain and sleep — with no evidence, UCSF study finds
The work of SSRI cofund Louisa Holmes, associate professor of geography & demography, was recently featured in this article published in the San Francisco Chronicle. By Catherine Ho, Staff Writer, for the San Francisco Chronicle Cannabis dispensaries in the Bay Area often recommend specific…
News Topics:
Substance Use
Marijuana
Pennsylvania counties face tough choices on spending $2B opioid settlement fund
In this piece written for The Conversation, authors Halie Kampman, Brian King, SSRI Affiliate Glenn Sterner, SSRI cofund Kristina P. Brant, and Maya Weinberg explain how a Penn State research project is exploring how six PA counties are utilizing opioid settlement funds.
New EIC Podcast on policing, recovery, and crime reduction
The Social Science Research Institute’s Evidence-to-Impact Podcast returns with its 25th episode, split into two parts, “Bridging the Gap: Community Policing’s Role in Recovery and Crime Reduction Part 1 and Part 2.” The episode features moderator Michael Donovan, associate director of the Evidence…
Piazza Center awarded grant to examine fraternity affiliation and leadership
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State's Timothy J. Piazza Center for Fraternity and Sorority Research has been awarded $70,000 to study student learning outcomes from fraternity membership. The study, sponsored in part by the North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), will examine the potential…
News Topics:
Substance Abuse
Substance Use
Research or Regress: What if we could stop impaired driving?
For teenagers, getting a driver's license is a key to freedom. But for parents, it can be a source of worry, especially since car accidents are one of the leading causes of death among teens, and one in four teen crashes involves underage drinking and driving. Yet, these deaths and injuries are…
News Topics:
Alcohol
Substance Use
PPIRA Program contributes to reducing the Community Impacts of Substance Abuse
Community Impact of Harm Reduction Vending Machines, a research project led by Jennifer Murphy, associate professor, Penn State Berks, and her team, is pleased to share the remarkable progress achieved through the support of the Presidential Public Impact Research Award (PPIRA) Program. This…
News Topics:
EIC
Substance Use
Annual substance use conference examines psychiatric and opioid use disorders
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Social Science Research Institute’s (SSRI) Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction (CSUA)vhosted the sixth annual conference in May at the the Eric J. Barron Innovation Hub at Penn State University Park. Drawing over 150 attendees throughout the day, including through…
$2.9M grant funds study on long-term effects of adolescent binge drinking
Ten percent of adolescents and young adults aged 12 to 20, whose brains are still developing, report drinking alcohol, with 90% of their consumption being binge drinking, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Penn…
People Who Use Drugs Need Access to Treatment, But They Also Need Love and Support
Editor’s note: Dr. Abenaa Jones is an Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, Ann Atherton Hertzler Early Career Professor in Health and Human Development, and Social Science Research Institute cofunded faculty member at Penn State University. Dr. Jones’ work focuses on the…
CSUA attends Science Coalition's Capitol Hill Day
Last week, the Social Science Research Institute's (SSRI) Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction (CSUA) was on Capitol Hill for "The Science of Addiction & Mental Health" hosted by The Science Coalition. CSUA Director Joel Segel and SSRI cofunded faculty member Glenn Sterner spent time with…
Community coalitions key to combating the opioid crisis
Collaborative, community-driven initiatives can help mitigate the impact of opioid misuse and overdose deaths, according to a research team that includes Brandy Henry, assistant professor of rehabilitation and human services and Social Science Research Institute cofunded faculty member at Penn…
Psychiatry professor to present at annual substance-use and addiction conference
The Social Science Research Institute’s Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction will host its sixth annual conference, in-person and via Zoom on Monday, May 5, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Barron Innovation Hub at the University Park campus. The all-day event is free, but all in-person and…
News Topics:
CSUA
Substance Use
Annual substance use and addiction conference to be held on May 5
The Social Science Research Institute’s Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction (CSUA) will host its sixth annual conference, in-person and via Zoom on Monday, May, 5 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Barron Innovation Hub at the University Park campus. The all-day event is free, but all in-person and…
Emails with personal stories may be more likely to catch lawmakers’ attention
Email is one of the easiest ways to contact policymakers, especially for researchers who want to share their expertise on complex topics like substance use, but can an email effectively foster connection? Researchers at Penn State recently found that policymakers were more likely to engage with…
Grants support research collaboration between Harrisburg, College of Medicine
Four teams of faculty from Penn State Harrisburg and Penn State College of Medicine, including SSRI cofunded faculty member Sujeong Park, have been awarded the inaugural planning and seed grants from the Penn State Inter-Campus Health and Medicine Research Program, a partnership created to support…
Experts share research and best practices at Tenth Annual Addiction Conference
Penn State College of Medicine is marking a milestone of a decade of sharing expertise and best practices at the upcoming Tenth Annual Penn State Addiction Conference. The conference, scheduled for Nov. 11 and 12, is run by the Penn State Addiction Center for Translation with additional support…
Expert in promoting well-being of diverse communities to speak at Penn State
The Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State will honor Phillip W. Graham, a principal scientist at the nonprofit research institute RTI International, with the title of 2024 Bennett Lecturer in Prevention Science. Graham, a leading expert in conducting community-level research…
Recovery community centers linked to support factors for substance use recovery
More than 46 million people in the U.S. suffered from substance use disorders and more than 100,000 died by overdose in 2001, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration<. To address this crisis, recovery community centers (RCCs) have emerged in cities across the U…