Join us for a panel discussion of alcohol use behavior, policy, and treatment in the age of COVID-19

Description:

Our three panelists will highlight changes to alcohol use behaviors, policy, and treatment following the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. Denis McCarthy will review changing attitudes and alcohol use behavior, and discuss adaptation to safe drinking strategies. Julie Sherman will highlight policy changes and emerging opportunities to rethink availability. Finally, Kamilla Venner will review adaptions to alcohol use treatment specifically with native communities. Time will be reserved for discussion and question & answer.

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Speakers:

Julia Sherman

Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project @University of Wisconsin Law School
Julia Sherman began her work on alcohol policy at the American Medical Association in the Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse. She was communications director for Reducing Underage Drinking through Coalitions, an AMA project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She later served as the first national Field Director for the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth a project that conducted early measurements of youth exposure to alcohol advertising. Sherman’s work focused on determining what policies and practices at the state and local level would reduce youth exposure to alcohol advertising. After returning to Wisconsin, Sherman chaired the Alcohol, Culture and Environment Work Group of the Wisconsin State Council on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and authored its final report, Changing Wisconsin’s Alcohol Environment to Promote Safe and Healthy Lives, which led to the creation of the Wisconsin Alcohol Policy Project in 2010.

Dr. Denis M. McCarthy

Professor of Psychology and Associate Chair for Research @Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Missouri Dr. Denis M. McCarthy is a Professor of Psychology and Associate Chair for Research in the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri. He received his BA in Psychology and Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Kentucky, and his Clinical Internship and Post-doctoral work at the University of California San Diego. He has been a professor at the University of Missouri since 2002. His research has focused on identifying predictors of alcohol-related negative consequences, with a particular emphasis on risk for driving while impaired by alcohol or cannabis. His work has been consistently funded by NIH/NIAAA since 2002. He is the co-director of MU’s Addiction Training group, funded by NIAAA training grants (T32 and R25) that support 18 undergraduate, pre- and post-doctoral training per year. He is the Director of the Missouri Center for Addiction Research and Engagement at the University of Missouri.

Kamilla L. Venner

Assistant Professor @Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico
Kamilla L. Venner, Ph.D., is a member of the Ahtna Athabascan tribe and a clinical psychologist. Her research aims to reduce the disproportionate substance use related health inequities American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) people experience. Her programmatic line of research has centered on four lines of inquiry. First, she has tested the psychometric properties of measures to ensure validity and reliability with AI/AN people and to highlight areas of universality versus cultural specificity. Second, she explores models and dimensions to systematically culturally tailored evidence-based treatments (EBTs) to improve acceptability, engagement, retention, and outcomes for AI/AN people. Third, she conducts randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with AI/AN participants. These RCTs allow examination of substance use outcomes and other indicators of well-being in addition to moderators and mediators to better understand active mechanisms of the culturally tailored EBTs and characteristics.