Publications

Psychopharmacology and Substance Use News Editorial Policy (Newsletter Editor Kirsten E. Smith,

Ph.D.)

Psychopharmacology and Substance Use News is a thrice-yearly publication of Division 28. It is devoted to keeping members informed about the activities of Division 28 and to news and comments concerning all aspects of psychopharmacology and substance use. Articles, comments, announcements, and advertisements should be sent to the editor, Kirsten E. Smith ksmit@jh.edu

 

Current Newsletter (July 2023)

 

From the President's Desk (Thomas J. Gould, Ph.D.):

• Summer is here and that can mean many exciting things for different people. It can be a time to catch up on those research projects that are almost finished. It can also be a time to dive into those novels that you have been meaning to read, a time to get outdoors and enjoy a good hike, a long bike ride, or a day at the beach. For some, it is that big vacation that has been planned for years.
• Another thing that summer brings is the 2023 APA Conference in Washington, DC August 3rd to the 5th. The program that Jessica Weafer has assembled is dynamic and Division 28 will have a large presence. This year we even had to expand our poster presentation slots to accommodate all of the great submissions. A special thanks needs to go out to Jessica for the energies she has brought into her role as program chair and to all of you presenting at APA this year. The strength of our docket for APA speaks to the health of our division, and even if you are not presenting, please come to enjoy and engage in good scientific discourse. Exciting highlights include learning about kratom and associated clinical challenges; from problematic cannabis use to cannabis use disorders; understanding the behavioral effects of non-THC cannabis constituents; alcohol and PTSD; interventions for adults with opioid use disorder; and sleep in treating substance use disorders to name but a few. I hope to see you there.
• As I said, our division is strong as the 2023 APA Conference will show. The vitality of our division is important because it provides opportunities for the next generation of leaders in our field to grow. It is also important because scientific discourse is essential for the health of science. The Society for Psychopharmacology and Substance Use, Division 28, continues to seek ways of supporting scientific discourse and scientific growth. As a part of that, a robust membership is important. If you are an active member, Thank You. If your membership has lapsed, please take a moment to renew. And finally, please encourage others to join and engage; our Division provides many great opportunities for young scientists to participate and present that often do not occur in the very large societies.

2023 APA Convention Update (Jessica Weafer, Ph.D.)

• I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the 131st annual APA convention! The convention will be held from August 3rd to 5th in Washington D.C. This year’s Division 28 program features an exciting and diverse set of presentations on timely and significant topics in substance use and psychopharmacology research. The program will include divisional and co- sponsored symposia, posters, and skill-building sessions. The program is available online here: APA Searchable Program Program.

Societal Research Spotlight: Dr. Orrin Ware, Ph.D.

• Dr. Orrin D. Ware is an interdisciplinary researcher with formal training in behavioral pharmacology, public health, and social work. His research experiences surpassed a decade after being selected as an undergraduate National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) summer research fellow in the summer of 2011. Since then, he has been completely immersed in research, including numerous research assistant and research coordinator positions, before receiving his PhD in social work from the University of Maryland in 2021 and subsequently completing a NIDA T32 postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2022. Alongside his research experiences, he has extensive real-world experience working in harm reduction and substance use disorder treatment settings. Examples of these experiences include conducting sexual health screenings on a mobile unit in high-risk locations (such as areas where sex work occurred or where substances were traded) and providing clinical interventions in crisis/stabilization, outpatient, and residential substance use disorder treatment settings. These direct experiences as an applied public health researcher and licensed clinical social worker were instrumental in informing his current research agenda.
• He is currently an Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where his research focuses on reducing barriers and improving treatment outcomes for persons with substance use disorders, especially those with co-occurring mental health disorders. To address potential disparities and focus on improving services, he uses large publicly available datasets and survey data from persons with substance use disorders. He extensively conducts research at the person and treatment/harm reduction facility levels. To date, Dr. Ware has published 24 peer- reviewed papers with two in-press. He is currently on the editorial board of Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology and serves as an editorial fellow for the Journal of Addiction Medicine.

We wanted to learn more about the research Dr. Ware was conducting, his background, and his approach to science. Dr. Ware was generous

enough to answer some questions.Thank you, Dr. Ware, for your contributions to the field and for allowing us to highlight your career path and work!

What got you interested in your line of research? It all started when I was a bright-eyed undergraduate student at Howard University and applied for a National Institute on Drug Abuse summer research fellowship for the summer of 2011. Luckily, I was accepted and had the fantastic opportunity to be fully immersed in research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health focusing on interventions for substance use disorders or HIV. That initial summer-long introduction to substance use disorder research made such an impression on me that I have continued to engage in this line of research. Over a decade after that initial experience, I am still in love with this research area.

What do you think are the biggest challenges currently facing Early Career Investigators right now? Two answers come to mind instantly. Firstly, what do I do with all these amazing ideas? Secondly, the ever-present feelings of imposter syndrome. To elaborate on these items in order: First, I come across so many of my fellow early career investigators who have many amazing ideas. However, the harsh reality of time and other responsibilities places an immediate cap on what you can complete. You may find yourself drowning in a sea of research paper ideas or grant application ideas but only have dedicated time to work on a few. What does one do with all these topics that they are passionate about with seemingly shrinking timeslots? Let’s always remind ourselves that academia is built on continued engagement in research. We may occasionally need to push that amazing idea further down the road and revisit it later while we focus on the amazing ideas currently on our to- do list.

Returning to imposter syndrome, this one is major. Do I have what it takes to be an independent researcher? Is my idea good enough to apply for that grant? Will any journal or conference accept a paper with my research question? These, among other questions, seem to be as ubiquitous as birds. It is quite fascinating to hear even well-established researchers express this sentiment. So, rest assured; you are in good company. Be sure to celebrate every small victory. The beautiful part about the research process is that even when peer reviewers do not like your idea, they often provide helpful feedback that can strengthen your ideas. Instead of allowing a paper/conference/grant/etc. rejection to feed your imposter syndrome, use it as fuel to propel you forward.

What advice would you give to your younger self when you were just starting out, something you wish you had known then that you know now? Take a grant writing class. Being as direct as possible, these are the five words that I would tell “past Orrin.” There is an art to applying words to paper in a manner that convinces organizations or individuals to invest in your research ideas. This skill is quite different from writing academic research articles or submitting an abstract to a conference. You must often market your ideas to people unfamiliar with your specific area while highlighting the importance/impact and staying within strict word or page limits. Receiving formal training in grant writing and perhaps even marketing, could provide a strategic advantage when writing grants… younger me.

What are you most excited about the future directions of your work? Recently I have been vigorously combing through large datasets and analyzing cases in upwards of several million individuals with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders. I am passionate about disseminating my research and hope that barriers to engaging with substance use disorder harm reduction or treatment services are reduced. I am driven by the unfortunate recent history of so many individuals being forced to engage with the criminal justice system instead of engaging with needed social or treatment services. Every day I get to wake up and focus on research that may have direct real-world benefits. For this, my excitement will never wane.

 

Meet Our Societal Student Representatives

Andrea Vásquez Ferreiro

• 

  Tell us about yourself: I am a fourth year PhD student in the Department of Health Education and Behavior at the University of Florida working under the mentorship of Dr. Meredith Berry. During my undergraduate degree I conducted research with rhesus monkeys examining the impact of stimulant drugs on sleep. During my doctoral studies, I have transitioned to working with participants. I’m interested in how the color green may potentially help reduce pain and substance use and be used as an adjunctive treatment to pharmacology. I aspire to continue this line of work by helping reduce drug consumption among pregnant women with substance use disorders. My other interests include understanding potential relations between adverse childhood traumas and drug demand using behavioral economics.
• Why Division 28?: In the aftermath of COVID-19, I wanted to find a way to network and meet researchers and experts in the drug addiction field. Division 28 presented an outlet to meet professionals and students with similar interests from across the county. Thanks to joining the division I have made friends that I get to see annually at conferences that I otherwise wouldn’t have crossed paths with. Joining the division helped avoid the awkwardness of reaching out to someone without sharing a common ground.
• What advice do you have for new students in this area?: Join organizations and don’t be scared to go up to people at conferences to make new connections and friends

Kathleen (Katie) R. McNealy

• Tell us about yourself: I am a fourth year PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln working with Dr. Rick Bevins. My graduate work in the Behavioral Neuropharmacology Lab applies principles from the experimental analysis of behavior to examine non- reinforcement processes that maintain nicotine intake in a rat model. For my dissertation research, I am examining how contraceptive hormones differentially impact nicotine reinforcement and reward-enhancement using an intravenous self-administration task. With this work, I aim to intersect reproductive health and addiction science to provide the preclinical basic science basis for informing better treatments for nicotine use disorder in women.
• Why Division 28?: In the absence of conferences and in-person networking opportunities, I wanted to expand my network and engage with scholars across the spectrum of addiction science. As a student representative, I love that I can provide student input into conversations that shape the future of the division.
• What advice do you have for new students in this area?: Expand your network and perspective beyond your niche. While having a niche is important, expanding my circle and knowledge outside of my direct research area has been incredibly important for my growth as a scientist. I have learned the most reading, listening to presentations, and talking to scholars outside of my direct research area. Division 28 has been a great way to facilitate this!

Robert LeComte

• Tell us about yourself: I am a sixth-year doctoral candidate at the University of Kansas currently working with Dr. Derek Reed and formerly with Dr. David Jarmolowicz. My work has been primarily focused on applying basic behavior-analytic and behavioral economic techniques toward understanding processes underlying substance use and addiction. Through my training, I have had great opportunities to conduct research using both human and nonhuman models. Along with addiction research, I am also interested in how behavioral economics can be used to describe other maladaptive health behaviors and how it can be applied within public policy.
• Why Division 28?: I got involved with Division 28 to expand my network and learn more about the field of addiction research. Joining the division has been a great opportunity to develop new skills, engage in service, and connect with researchers from diverse training backgrounds.
• What advice do you have for new students in this area?: My advice to new students would be to join organizations like Division 28 and seek opportunities to be involved beyond membership itself.

 

Outgoing Editorial from Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology Editor, Dr. William W. Stoops

Progress and Promise: A Brief Reflection on My Time as Editor of Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology

I end my time as Editor of Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology with gratitude for all who have contributed to the journal’s success

over the past years, pride for what we have accomplished, and excitement for the journal’s future.

So, first, gratitude. Running a journal requires a team effort and Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology is no exception. Many, many thanks go to the reviewers, authors, consulting editors, our Associate Editor (see more below), and staff at APA Publishing for all they have done to make the journal go and grow. I especially want to thank Lorie Van Olst, our peer review coordinator, who ensured that journal operations ran smoothly, patiently taught me how to navigate the Editorial Manager system and managed an ever- growing number of submissions, as well as seemingly continuous changes to submission requirements (e.g., to meet Transparency and Openness Guidelines), over the last seven years.

Next, accomplishments. I could rattle off statistics like numbers of submissions, impact factor or success rates, all of which are things that those of us working on the journal can be proud of, but I want to focus on one key accomplishment from my time as Editor: the establishment of the first Editorial Fellow program in the 125+ years that the APA Publishing program has been operating. We’ve had an impressive group of Editorial Fellows: Dr. Gregory Collins and Dr. Raina Pang (2018), Dr. Helen Kamens and Dr. James Mahoney (2019), Dr. Daniel Bradford and Dr. Casey Guillot (2020), Dr. Lara Coughlin and Dr. Ian Mendez (2021), and Dr. Cassie Moore and Dr. Jason Oliver (2022). Each Editorial Fellow has joined the group of consulting editors for the journal and Dr. Pang became our first Associate Editor when our average annual number of submissions grew high enough to warrant the addition of someone in that role!

Dr. Bradford, Dr. Pang, and I also developed a resource for APA Publishing to make the manuscript publication process more transparent to people new to publishing (https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/resources/publishing-tips/publishing-process).       Working closely with these early career researchers, guiding and watching them learn the editorial process, and seeing them refine their skills as scientist-citizens has been THE highlight of my time as Editor of Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. These achievements are especially gratifying because their success contributed to APA Publishing’s decision to establish an Editorial Fellow model more broadly throughout the APA Publishing program. This program is now an organization wide Editorial Fellowship effort that fosters new opportunities to build editorial skills for individuals underrepresented in the field.

Third, and last, excitement. When I began the Editorial Fellowship program, it was with the intention of helping early career researchers develop editorial skills and give them a “foot in the door” for future positions as Editors themselves. Over the time I’ve been Editor, the field has become increasingly cognizant of the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). So, although the Editorial Fellowship program may help to address some of those issues, and as shown in this recent article in Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology (Curiel, 2021), we have made strides in certain areas (e.g., our group of consulting editors is comprised of approximately 50% women and 50% men), we have much to improve on in terms of representation of people from underrepresented backgrounds (broadly defined) at the journal and in the field. APA Publishing is enabling this by building measures that journal teams can use to understand who their authors and reviewers are and by providing a diversity toolkit for journal editors, which I am honored to have contributed to (https://www.apa.org/pubs/authors/equity-diversity-inclusion-toolkit). I know that Dr. Kelly Dunn, our new incoming Editor, is also making DEIB at the journal even more of a focus than it is now. A perfect example of her commitment is the outstanding and diverse group of incoming Consulting Editors she has assembled. I see great things in store for Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology for the next seven years and I’m so very thrilled to see Dr. Dunn take over the helm of the journal and the new heights she can bring it to!

I close by reiterating my thanks to all of those who’ve contributed to the success of Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. I hope you are as happy as I am to see the progress we’ve made and the promise of where we are going!

References

Curiel, H. (2021). Authors, editors, and gender in the Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology: An update. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. Online Ahead of Print.

Past Newsletters

• 2023, Volume 1, Volume 2