Alcohol Research Group

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  • The Center
    • About
          • ABOUT THE CENTER

            • History, Mission, & Focus
          • MEET THE DIRECTOR


            Senior Scientist, William (Bill) C. Kerr, PhD, is Director of ARG’s National Alcohol Research Center and Co-Directs the National Alcohol Survey and the Health Disparities projects.  Bill also serves as the scientific director at ARG and continues to lead R01 projects, including a grant to investigate secondhand harms from alcohol and other drugs.

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    • People
          • THE CENTER TEAM

            • Center Leadership
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          • MEET THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

            Senior Scientist Nina Mulia, DrPH, is Center Associate Director and Director of the Alcohol Services project. She specializes in and has published widely on race and ethnicity and socioeconomic disparities in heavy drinking, alcohol problems, and alcohol services utilization.

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    • Research
          • CENTER RESEARCH

            • Cores
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            • Affiliated Research
          • ASSESSING HID OVER THE LIFECOURSE

            This project, led by Camillia Lui, PhD, traces trends in harmful drinking patterns over a 40-year period, and identifies a range of alcohol-related precursors and problems through event-based and population-based approaches to inform early screening and interventions for high-risk groups.

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    • National Alcohol Surveys
          • ABOUT THE SURVEY

            • About the National Alcohol Survey
            • NAS Datasets
            • Get Access to the NAS data
          • MEET THE SURVEY CO-DIRECTOR

            Scientist and Deputy Scientific Director, Priscilla Martinez, oversees the survey design, data collection, and analyses.  In the latest cycle of the NAS, Priscilla conducted dried blood spot sampling to help better understand the relationship between how our immune systems work and what role they might play in how alcohol use can affect our mental health.

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        • OVERVIEW

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Recent Findings

Binge Drinking Rates Mediate the Effects of Alcohol Policies

August 16, 2020 by

State Binge Drinking Rates Mediate the Effects of Alcohol Policies and State Living Standards, a New Study on Alcohol’s Harms to Others Finds Emeryville, CA (August 13, 2020) – A new study looks at the interplay between state-level alcohol policies, binge-drinking rates, and socioeconomic status(SES) and their effect on harms caused by someone else’s drinking. The study from the Alcohol Research Group (ARG), a program of the Public Health Institute, highlights the roles of two state-level … [Read more...]

Healthy Lifestyle Class Identified Among Whites and Hispanics but not Among Blacks

July 24, 2020 by

A new study looks at clustered risk behaviors across racial/ethnic groups In the first study to identify clustered risk health behaviors among whites, Blacks, and Hispanics, ARG Scientist Won Kim Cook and colleagues illustrate the need to develop tailored multi-behavioral interventions to address racial disparities in health outcomes. The research team focused on the “big four” risk behaviors that contribute to chronic conditions and morbidity: risky drinking, cigarette smoking, poor diet, … [Read more...]

State Residents Would Change Their Vote on Privatizing Liquor Sales

May 23, 2020 by

A new study looks at the shifts in voters’ opinions since privatization in Washington State A new study shows that voters in Washington State would likely reject privatization of liquor sales if the vote was held today. The study from the Alcohol Research Group, a program of the Public Health Institute, found that Washington residents who voted in favor of ending state controls on liquor sales in 2011 were 2.59 times more likely to want to change their vote than residents who voted against it. … [Read more...]

Alcohol Policies Are More Effective for Some Groups than Others

February 6, 2020 by

Increasing taxes on specific types of alcohol and implementing policies that reduce its availability have differing effects on specific subgroups according to a new study from ARG biostatistician  Meenakshi Sabina Subbaraman and colleagues. The study, published in Addiction, is the first to address gaps in alcohol policy research by examining how such broad-based initiatives aimed at reducing drinking and its related consequences vary across sex and racial/ethnic groups. Results showed that … [Read more...]

Drinking High Levels of Alcohol Increases the Chance of Developing Hypertension

January 8, 2020 by

A new lifecourse study looks at how drinking affects health over a 30-year period Press Release: People who consume high-levels of alcohol may be at an increased risk of developing high blood pressure according to a new lifecourse study from the Alcohol Research Group (ARG), a program of the Public Health Institute. The study, published today in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, confirms previous research that demonstrated a significant link between hypertension and heavy drinking … [Read more...]

Liquor Prices Continue to Grow in Washington State after Privatization

December 18, 2019 by

Press Release Emeryville, CA (December 18, 2019): New follow-up research on Washington State’s privatization of alcohol and its effect on pricing and consumption found liquor prices continued to increase compared to previous analyses conducted in 2014. However, increases varied by brand, container size, and store type. The study, conducted by the Alcohol Research Group (ARG), a program of the Public Health Institute, found that, between 2014 and 2016, prices grew by 3.9% for a 750 mL … [Read more...]

Policy Brief: Is Federal Parity Effective?

November 26, 2019 by

State Parity Laws May Explain Why Federal Policy Aimed at Increasing Access to Alcohol Treatment Services Shows Modest Effect N. Mulia, C.K. Lui, Y. Ye, M.S. Subbaraman, W.C. Kerr, T.K. Greenfield Summary The purpose of this policy brief is to assess the effectiveness of the 2008 Federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) on treatment admissions for people with substance use issues. This is the first assessment to consider the moderating effect of pre-existing … [Read more...]

US Drinking Norms Updated

October 5, 2019 by

As a practitioner, one way to assess your clients' drinking habits is to have them compare their current consumption level to how much the rest of the nation is drinking.  ARG senior scientist, Thomas K. Greenfield and  biostatistician Yu Ye took data from the 2015 National Alcohol Survey (NAS) consisting of individuals residing in 50 states and Washington DC, and looked at the number of drinks both women and men said they consumed per week on average in the previous 12 months. Ask your … [Read more...]

New treatment program helps women significantly reduce how much they drink even after treatment ends

July 22, 2019 by

A new clinical trial shows that intensive motivational interviewing (IMI), an intervention that was first used to treat methamphetamine dependence, is highly effective in curbing how much women with alcohol problems drank two months after the program ended with consumption levels sustained at the six-month follow-up. Women who were heavy drinkers experienced the greatest effect. Heavy drinking was defined as drinking 14 or more days to the point of intoxication over the past 30 days. The study … [Read more...]

Alcohol causes significant harm to those other than the drinker

June 30, 2019 by

Each year, one in five U.S. adults -- an estimated 53 million people -- experience harm because of someone else’s drinking, according to new research in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Similar to how policymakers have addressed the effects of secondhand smoke over the last two decades, society needs to combat the secondhand effects of drinking, the authors state, calling alcohol’s harm to others “a significant public health issue.” According to the study -- an analysis of U.S. … [Read more...]

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Latest News

February 28th, 2026
Support groups for alcohol use disorder are more effective when they are attended in person
January 29th, 2026
Understanding Family Burden from Others’ Substance Use
January 2nd, 2026
Webinar Series: Overcoming Barriers to Opioid Treatment Research in Recovery Housing
December 31st, 2025
In the News: Scientist Priscilla Martinez Discusses the Unpublished Alcohol Intake and Health Study
December 29th, 2025
How People with Substance Use Disorder Can Benefit from Different Types of Support Groups

Recent Findings

January 29th, 2026
Understanding Family Burden from Others’ Substance Use
December 15th, 2025
How Neighborhoods and Culture Shape Alcohol Problems in Young Mexican Americans
November 15th, 2025
Exploring Links Between Substance Use Combinations and Mental Health Wellness in College Students
April 2nd, 2025
New Study Reveals Why Alcohol Use Increased During the Pandemic
November 23rd, 2024
Data disaggregation reveals hidden suicide risk

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Who We Are

About ARG

We are a non-profit research organization that seeks to improve public health through deepening our understanding of alcohol and other drug use and investigating innovative approaches to reduce its consequences for individuals, families, and communities.

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