Psychology Professor and Ph.D. Candidate Awarded NIH Grants for Alcohol-Related Research and Treatment

Nearly 30 million people in the United States struggle with alcohol use disorder (AUD), which is characterized by impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences. Of that 30 million, less than 10% receive treatment, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Among the barriers to care are cost, stigma and presence of co-occurring psychological symptoms or conditions, including anxiety, depression and trauma.

Through the development of novel intervention strategies, members of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Psychology are dedicated to advancing treatment for individuals suffering from AUD. This is another example of cutting-edge research at Syracuse that contributes to human thriving, a key pillar of the University’s new Academic Strategic Plan. In support of that work, a psychologist and graduate student in psychology were recently awarded grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Sarah Woolf-King, associate professor of psychology, received a five-year R01 award (major NIH research grant awarded to individual investigator teams) to test the efficacy of a novel approach to decrease alcohol use and improve co-existing psychological symptoms among people with HIV.

A second NIH award—an F31 dissertation research grant—was obtained by Fatima Dobani, a Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology. The prestigious F31 award will support her work to generate a way to measure how discrimination against Multiracial young adults contributes to alcohol misuse among that population. Her study will develop a discrimination scale to help inform culturally sensitive intervention strategies.

Learn more about these NIH Grants on the College of Arts and Sciences’ website.