As a core component of the National Alcohol Research Center, the pilot studies program provides early-stage investigators with the opportunity to explore new areas of research that often leads to independently funded projects. The most recent studies include the development of a kiosk-based prenatal screening intervention, improvement of alcohol dependent measures, associations between immune function, alcohol use disorders and psychological distress, and the relationship between experiences of … [Read more...]
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Alcohol & Pregnancy Grant Funded
William C. Kerr heads up the ARG team on a new study in collaboration with Sarah Roberts, Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Sarah is also a public health social scientist at the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health and former postdoctoral fellow at ARG. The study will look at the associations between state-level punitive and supportive policies targeting alcohol use during pregnancy … [Read more...]
Staff Updates, Both Good & Sad
Miguel Pinedo, who recently began his two-year postdoctoral fellowship at ARG, moved from Southern California to the Bay Area where he'll focus on migration as a risk factor for substance use. But Miguel's no stranger to Northern California, having completed his MPH at UC Berkeley before obtaining his PhD at UC San Diego. With a goal of becoming an independent researcher, Miguel feels ARG is the perfect training ground for skill development while also providing the opportunity to further the … [Read more...]
Results of Liquor Privatization in Washington State
Results of a recent study that looked at the effects of privatization on the sale and distribution of liquor in Washington State found spirit prices increased significantly, while prices in the bordering states of Idaho and Oregon only showed small increases. Averaging across all of the stores selected, Washington liquor prices rose by an average of 15.5% for the 750ml size and by 4.7% for the 1.75L size. However, price changes varied greatly by store type with no increases found for liquor … [Read more...]
Study Provides No-Cost Alcohol Treatment
For over 20 years Senior Scientist Douglas Polcin, EdD, has been studying addiction and treatment options, including recovery housing. His latest project, one that focuses on outpatient treatment for women with alcohol problems, is designed to assess the efficacy of intensive motivational interviewing (IMI). Over the next two years, the study will recruit 220 adult women, each randomized to one of two treatment types with services provided by licensed therapists and practitioners at New Leaf … [Read more...]
Environmental Effects on AUD
Scientist Katherine Karriker-Jaffe received a subaward for a project that seeks to clarify how environmental adversity at the individual, family and community level and genetic risk jointly contribute to the development of alcohol use disorders (AUD). Kate will be working with Multiple PIs Kenneth Kendler from Virginia Commonwealth University and Kristina Sundquist of Lund University in Sweden. While the study will use Swedish data, the findings will be highly relevant to the US and other … [Read more...]
ARG in the News
A recent study from the University of Washington that found a significant increase in heavy drinking and binge drinking rates in particular areas of the US created quite a buzz in the press. One of the areas that saw such a rise was in our very own backyard - Santa Clara County - where binge drinking rates increased as much as 36 percent among women. Wanting to know the reasons for such an increase, the media asked ARG scientists to provide their rationale and response to the study … [Read more...]
Men’s Hazardous Drinking Risks
A new study found that men who have sex with men (MSM)—defined as gay and bisexually identified men as well as heterosexually identified men who had same-sex partners--reported equal or lower levels of hazardous drinking than exclusively heterosexual men. This finding dispels the popular assumption that men who have sex with men are more likely to consume alcohol above recommended amounts. The study results also suggest that the protective effect is enhanced for some racial/ethnic groups. Black … [Read more...]
Cannabis & Alcohol Shouldn’t Be Mixed
Even though cannabis is the most commonly used drug by people who drink alcohol, no study has looked at the implications of drinking and smoking cannabis at the same time. ARG Associate Scientist Meenakshi Sabina Subbaraman and Senior Scientist William C. Kerr have done just that - to investigate how combining the two substances affects adult drinkers compared to people who use both separately. Their findings show that simultaneous users had double the odds of drunk driving, social … [Read more...]
Is a Drink a Day Good for You?
There's been a lot of talk recently - both in the news and social media - that for people between the ages of 40 and 50 years old, having one drink a day is good for your health. The buzz started with a commentary by Professor Rubin, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, who suggested that "physicians should counsel lifelong non-drinkers at about 40 to 50 years of age to relax and take a drink a day." However, ARG Senior Scientists Thomas K. … [Read more...]
