Addictions Experts to Offer Fall Seminars at UB's Research Institute on Addictions

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) will present a fall seminar series featuring national experts beginning in October.

The four-part series is free, open to the public and held on designated Fridays at 10 a.m. on the first floor of the RIA building at 1021 Main St. at Goodrich on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

The series will open on Oct. 14 with a presentation by Rob Turrisi, PhD, on "Advances in Parenting Research to Reduce High Risk Drinking and Problems in College Students." Turrisi is professor at Pennsylvania State University with joint appointments in the Department of Biobehavioral Health and the Prevention Research Center. His current research is focused on a community-based zero-tolerance project in two college towns.

On Oct. 28, Patrick M. Flynn, PhD, will present "Addiction Treatment Outcomes, Process and Change." Flynn is professor, Saul B. Sells Chair in Psychology and director of the Institute of Behavioral Research at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. He is currently principal investigator on a five-year National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded project that is adapting, adopting and implementing an intervention in therapeutic communities for adolescents. He is also a principal investigator on a clinical trial of an augmented test, treat, link and retain model for North Carolina and Texas prisoners.

Harriet de Wit, PhD, professor in the University of Chicago's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, will present "Determinants of Drug Preference in Humans" on Nov. 4. Her current research includes studies on the effects of drugs on emotional processing, evaluations of different behavioral measures of impulsivity and studies on genetic variation in acute responses to stimulant drugs.

The series will close on Dec. 2 with "HIV Risk Behaviors among Women in Substance Abuse Treatment: Correlates and Predictors of Change" presented by Kurt H. Dermen, PhD, senior research scientist at RIA. His primary research interests include the study of individual, social and contextual factors that contribute to risky sexual behavior in alcohol- and other drug-abusing populations, as well as the development and evaluation of motivational and behavioral interventions for substance abuse treatment, health risk reduction and health promotion.

For more information about the seminars, contact RIA at 716-887-2566 or visit http://www.ria.buffalo.edu/events/index.html.

The Research Institute on Addictions has been a leader in the study of addictions since 1970 and a research center of the University at Buffalo since 1999.

The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, a flagship institution in the State University of New York system and its largest and most comprehensive campus. UB's more than 28,000 students pursue their academic interests through more than 300 undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. Founded in 1846, the University at Buffalo is a member of the Association of American Universities.