Institute for Translational Research Education in Adolescent Drug Abuse (ITRE)
News
Scholars of the Institute for Translational Research in Adolescent Behavioral Health Attend National Conference
March 11, 2013
Scholars, community partners, academic mentors, and national mentors from The Institute for Translational Research in Adolescent Behavioral Health (Institute) attended the 26th Annual Children's Mental Health and Research Policy Conference on March 3rd – 6th hosted by USF's Department of Child & Family Studies, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences. The Institute organized a conference track exclusively designed for Institute participants, entitled Adolescent Substance Abuse and Co-occurring Disorders, which included educational sessions, networking events, and a pre-conference workshop.
The Institute, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (1R25DA031103-01A1), is designed to provide an innovative education program in translational research, implementation science, and evidence-based practice in adolescent behavioral health. The Institute is a collaborative effort between local adolescent-serving community agencies and two Departments/Colleges at the University of South Florida: the Department of Community & Family Health in College of Public Health, and the Department of Child & Family Studies in College of Behavioral and Community Sciences (Dr. Julie Baldwin, Principal Investigator; Dr. Bruce Levin and Dr. Tom Massey, Co-Investigators; and Ms. Donna Burton, Project Director). Sixteen Scholars are currently enrolled in the Institute including four community agency Scholars and twelve Scholars in graduate programs including public health/behavioral health, global health, rehabilitation and mental health counseling, social work, and criminology. The Scholars and their mentoring teams will be developing and conducting service learning translational research projects beginning this summer.
Photo: Four of the Institute Scholars Alexandra Albizu-Rivera (front left), Humberto López Castillo (back left), Nichole Synder (back right), and Vickie Lynn (front right) with David K. Mineta, Deputy Director of Demand Reduction for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, The White House.
During the pre-conference workshop, Institute Scholars met with the community agency partners, including: BayCare Behavioral Health; DACCO; Eckerd Community Alternatives; Hillsborough County Schools; and the Mendez Foundation. Institute Scholars also networked with national experts in the field of child and adolescent behavioral health, implementation science, and translational research. David K. Mineta, Deputy Director of Demand Reduction for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, The White House, also spent time with the students discussing national policy and practice priorities in child and adolescent behavioral health.