RIA: Seminar Series

All seminar presentations are made at 10 a.m. on Fridays in room 132.


March 22, 2013	Animal Models of Behavioral Regulation Jerry Richards, PhD is a Senior Research Scientist at the Research Institute on Addictions, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. Dr. Richards completed his bachelor’s degree in Psychology and his Master’s degree in Experimental Psychology at San Francisco State University. He earned his PhD in Psychobiology at Emory University. The research in Dr. Richards’ laboratory, primarily funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has focused on developing animal models of behavioral regulation. A fundamental challenge for any complex nervous system is to regulate behavior in response to environmental challenges. His lab has developed laboratory tests of sensation seeking, habituation, stimulus control and decision making which parallel human tests of these processes. Individual differences in these processes have been linked to drug self administration in animals and drug abuse in humans.

April 12, 2013	Drinking Trajectories among Heavy Drinkers Following Treatment and In the Absence of Treatment Katie Witkiewitz, PhD is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of New Mexico with a joint appointment at the Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the State University of New York at Potsdam followed by her MA in Clinical Psychology at the University of Montana. She then completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Washington. The underlying theme of her research is the development of empirically-based models of substance use, with an emphasis on applying advanced quantitative research methods to better understand changes in substance use behavior over time. Dr. Witkiewitz is also a licensed clinical psychologist and has worked extensively on the development of a theoretical model of biopsychosocial influences on substance use relapse. She has conducted numerous empirical studies on the prediction of alcohol relapse following treatment for alcohol use disorders, mechanisms of successful alcohol treatment outcomes, as well as the development of interventions to prevent alcohol and substance use relapse, including mindfulness-based relapse prevention and group-based relapse prevention interventions. Her research has been supported by grants from the National Institute on Mental Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Cancer Institute.

April 26, 2013	Naltrexone in the Treatment of Nicotine Dependence: Where Do We Stand? Andrea King, PhD is a Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Chicago. She received her BS in Psychology at the University of Illinois. She then completed her MS and PhD in Biological Psychology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center followed by postdoctoral training in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. King’s primary goal is to examine the mechanisms of vulnerability to substance use disorders and to identify efficacious behavioral and pharmacological interventions for treatment of addiction. The main focus of her research has concentrated on the etiology and treatment of alcohol and nicotine dependences. While use of alcohol and drugs is widespread, only a portion of individuals exposed will develop chronic heavy, maladaptive use. In addition, most treatments for addictive disorders only reach a small percentage of those afflicted and only improve outcomes for the minority of persons treated. Combinations of behavioral and pharmacological approaches have shown the most promise, and newer studies are examining such integrated treatments among a wide variety of patients, including racial/ethnic minorities and women. Dr. King examines factors involved in differential outcomes with the ultimate goal to ameliorate such disparities. The research program in Dr. King’s Clinical Addictions Research Laboratory includes integrated human laboratory and clinical trials research methodology to bear a psychobiological perspective on addiction. Her work has been funded by both the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

May 10, 2013	Nonmedical Use of Prescription Stimulants: Cognitive Enhancement or Dissonance? Christian Teter, Pharm.D., BCPP is an Assistant Professor specializing in Psychopharmacology at the University of New England. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Medical Technology at Michigan State University followed by his Doctor of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan. His research interests focus on prescription drug abuse among population-based samples, with an emphasis on the nonmedical use of prescription stimulants among students for the purposes of cognitive enhancement. In addition to being a Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist, Dr. Teter has completed both clinical training (Psychiatric Pharmacotherapy Residency at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) and formal research training (Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor).