Q&A
Kenneth Leonard
Research scientist Kenneth Leonard was appointed director of the Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) in December 2011. In the following Q&A, Leonard discusses his own role, along with RIA’s multifaceted investigations and innovative treatments for a wide range of addictive behaviors.
How long have you been a part of RIA?
I joined RIA—originally the Research Institute on Alcoholism—as a senior research scientist in February 1986 appointed by the new RIA director, Howard Blane, PhD. At that time, I worked with Howard on a research program focused on heavy drinking and alcohol problems among young adult men. I also collaborated with Howard, and with Brenda Miller, also an RIA research scientist (and now at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in Berkeley, Calif.), on alcohol and violence among men on parole. After this, I began my own research program on alcohol and partner violence in young married couples. Over the years, I've had the privilege to collaborate with many excellent scientists at RIA.
What stands out for you during your tenure at RIA?
The collaborative and collegial atmosphere that exists throughout the institute. I think the staff at RIA recognize that our successes in addressing the problems of addiction arise from our dedicated teamwork. We share a high level of respect for each other.
How long has the RIA been in existence?
In late 1967, Buffalo was selected over Columbia University, Cornell University, the University of Rochester and SUNY Downstate Medical Center as the site for a new research institute to address the problems of alcoholism in New York State.
The RIA was formally established in 1970 and has just celebrated entering its fifth decade of research. But it wasn't until 1999 that RIA was legislatively transferred to the University at Buffalo.
Today we have 15 state-supported research scientists, 27 NIH principal investigators and 130 RF-SUNY employees.
How has the union of UB and RIA benefitted the research at RIA?
Our incorporation into UB has been very productive on a number of fronts, including the establishment of numerous new collaborative relationships with scientists across a number of UB departments. It has also allowed us to provide postdoctoral training for the next generation of addiction researchers.
Has RIA’s focus changed or expanded over the years?
We were originally known as the Research Institute on Alcoholism and much of the research conducted by RIA was supported by contracts from the New York State Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse.
With the merging of the State Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse and the Office of Substance Abuse Services into one agency—the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services—RIA became the Research Institute on Addictions and expanded its mandate to address other frequently abused drugs, including both illegal drugs and tobacco and later the treatment of problem gambling.
The next step we are taking is a fuller engagement with the missions of the university and with the needs of practitioners.
One of those areas of engagement is college student substance use. RIA scientists and I will be working with UB’s Wellness Education Services to develop a New York State conference that addresses this.How are researchers and their work funded at RIA?
Mostly through research grants, predominantly by the prestigious National Institutes on Health (NIH). For the past decade, RIA has been a consistent leader at UB of federal grant awards, in excess of $108 million. Currently, RIA is holding and/or supporting 41 federal grant awards.
What do researchers at RIA study?
Because of physical, psychological and environmental factors in addiction, it requires multifaceted approaches to research and treatment such as applied biopsychology, behavioral neuroscience, behavioral psychology, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, design and statistics, developmental psychology, educational psychology, neuroscience, physiological psychology, social psychology, sociology and survey epidemiology.
Can you describe some of the innovations RIA researchers have brought to the study of addictions?
- RIA is an innovator in developing and evaluating specialized treatments for individuals with alcohol, drug, gambling and smoking addictions. We have developed and tested interventions for college students, DWI offenders and individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Our research on drinking and drugs in the workplace demonstrated that 15 percent of the U.S. workforce has used or been under the influence of alcohol at work; 63 percent reported they could bring alcohol into work. The study revealed occupations showing the highest rates of workplace alcohol use.
- Our energy drink research showed that college students using energy drinks are three times as likely to engage in cigarette smoking, prescription drug abuse or a serious fight; two-thirds used energy drinks as mixers with alcohol; and energy drink users were often younger and scored higher on measures of sensation seeking.
- RIA has increased understanding about the impact of substance abuse among women both during pregnancy as well as after pregnancy. We have been working with pregnant mothers who were abusing tobacco during pregnancy, and looking for ways to help them quit.
What direction will RIA be taking in the future?
In addition to continuing and broadening our research foci, we want to expand the communication of our research into information and training that would be useful to policymakers and practitioners
We have a history of these efforts. In 1998, we held a “Research to Practice” seminar on alcohol, drugs, and violence that attracted the attention of then Buffalo Mayor Tony Masiello, former Buffalo Police Commissioner Gil Kerlikowski, as well as police, practitioners, judges and educators throughout Erie County.
We also held a “Research to Practice” focused on children in alcoholic families with Rina Eiden, PhD, of RIA, and Pamela Schuetze, PhD, from Buffalo State College.
Our future efforts will focus on the utilization of media, and particularly new media. We have initiated a series of “Expert Summaries.” These are documentsthat summarize RIA research as well as other research across the country.
We have submitted a grant application with the UB Department of Family Medicine to provide education to primary care doctors on alcohol screening and brief interventions using innovative media training approaches.
Finally, the vision expressed in 1967 that RIA would benefit by integration into the planned new campus is on the verge of fulfillment in that RIA finds itself to be one of the first UB buildings on the planned Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.
In recent days, we have seen the Clinical and Translational Research Center nearing completion. And we will soon see the construction on a medical office building, a new Women’s and Children’s Hospital and, eventually, a new medical school.
The emergence of a medical campus on our doorstep represents an unprecedented opportunity for RIA to collaborate with researchers in these facilities.
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