Sexual assault is a massive problem on college campuses, and alcohol is involved in some form or another in more than half of cases reported. Dr. Jen Read talks about her work to understand the complex social environment within which sexual assault often takes place, and her work to design interventions to reduce the rate of sexual assault. Unfortunately, the evidence suggests that intervention and prevention approaches targeting the perpetrators do not work. However, sexual assaults often take place in complex social environments, and interventions may be able to leverage friendships to create more explicit conversations about how to protect one another during a night out. Dr. Jen Read is a renowned scientist known for her work illuminating harms and developing intervention approaches to reduce drinking among college students. Dr. Read is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Psychology at the University at Buffalo.

Regular exercise confers many benefits: It will increase your mood, decrease fatigue, and increase the quality of your sleep, among others. But how can exercise impact substance use? Is exercise an effective adjunct to treatment? If so, how do we encourage a behavior that, for many, is so hard to maintain? Dr. Ana Abrantes discusses the research on exercise and substance use treatment, with a particular focus on making exercise accessible. Dr. Ana Abrantes is a Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior in the Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and the Co-Director of Behavioral Medicine and Addictions Research at Butler Hospital.

Have you ever passed a sign on the road advertising for something called "Kratom"? or, perhaps, a friend or family member has mentioned trying it. What is it? An herbal supplement, or pharmacological drug? As addiction scientists, epidemiologists, and clinicians, do we have anything to be concerned about? In this episode, Dr. Kirsten Smith catches us up on what is known about Kratom, including the pharmacology, effects, and prevalence of this emerging substance. Dr. Kirsten Smith is a Post-doctoral Fellow in the Real-world Assessment, Prediction, and Treatment Unit at the National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program, and an incoming Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins University. 

ARE YOU READY FOR CPA 2022? 

The first in-person CPA conference since 2019 is happening this weekend, April 7-9, in Portland, OR. In addition to amazing networking opportunities, there will be incredible sessions and posters presented by experts ranging from early to late career, studying addiction and related topics. On this episode, we highlight the award-winning work of five early career scholars who will be presenting their research in Portland. Tune in for a sneak preview, and get hyped for CPA! Timestamps and presentation titles below. 

1:34 - 10:44: Dr. Jevon Rice - Training in Substance Use Disorders Among Black Emerging Adults for Psychologists

10:44 - 19:27: Victoria Chentsova - Internalizing Symptoms, Rumination, and Problematic Social Networking Site Use: A Cross-national Examination

19:27 - 32:01: Peter Soyster - Personalized Machine Learning Models to Predict Future Alcohol Use

32:01 - 36:30: Madison Smith - Which Types of Substance-Related Legal Problems are Most Predictive of Arrest?

36:30 - 47:51: Melissa Schick - Gender Parity and Homophily in the Drug and Alcohol Dependence Editorial Process

Sleep is a critical function that can be disrupted by substance use. In fact, the majority of people with an alcohol use disorder report insomnia or sleep disturbance. So, what is good sleep, and why does it seem that substance use disrupts it? Can you treat the sleep, even if the drinking doesn't change? Does cannabis actually help sleep? Dr. Mary Beth Miller answers these questions and more, in our latest episode on the relationship between sleep and substance use. Dr. Mary Beth Miller is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Missouri School of Medicine.

Persistent alcohol use can, at times, interfere with intimate relationships and create conflict. The dynamic of the couple can be a source of tension and may create a loop that can perpetuate alcohol use. However, intimate couples relationships can also be great supports in the recovery from alcohol use disorder. Dr. Barbara McCrady talks about decades of research and development of Alcohol Behavioral Couples Therapy (ABCT), which attempts to target changes in alcohol use by bolstering the couples relationship and using the partner to help work toward behavior change. Dr. Barbara McCrady Professor Emerita of Psychology and the Center on Alcohol, Substance Use, and Addictions (CASAA) at the University of New Mexico. Here she is pictured with her beloved horse, Skylark. 

Alcohol use produces changes in the cardiovascular system affecting heart rate. These systematic differences in heart rate can, in turn, function as a biological signature (i.e., biomarker) of dysfunction among those with alcohol use disorder (AUD). In addition to assessing difficulties, understanding heart rate modulation may have important treatment implications. Dr. David Eddie talks about heart rate variability as a biomarker of AUD and his work developing behavioral skills that can target heart rate using biofeedback to improve AUD treatment outcomes. Dr. Eddie is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and a Research Scientist at both Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Addiction Medicine and Recovery Research Institute.

Most commonly known psychedelics are considered schedule 1 substances by the controlled substances act, meaning they is no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. However, there is emerging evidence that psychedelics may have some therapeutic value. Dr. Matthew Johnson discusses the history of psychedelic research in the United States and his work on understanding abuse potential and therapeutic value of one specific psychedelic, psilocybin. Matt is the Susan Hill Ward Professor in Psychedelics and Consciousness and Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins.

A great deal of our research focuses on adults with substance use disorder. Yet, many who develop severe substance use disorder begin during adolescence. What types of psychosocial treatments are available for adolescents? What about pharmacological treatments? Does combining psychosocial and pharmacological treatments increase efficacy? In this episode, Dr. Robert Miranda discusses treatments available for adolescents and the complications of developing these treatments. Dr. Robert Miranda is a Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior in the Warren Alpert Medical School, a Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences in the School of Public Health, and the Training Director of the NIAAA/NIDA Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University. He is also the Clinical Director of the Vista Intensive Outpatient Program at Bradley Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island.