ENHANCING DIVERSITY IN ADDICTION SCIENCE

BROAD SPECTRUM

ENHANCING DIVERSITY IN ADDICTION SCIENCE

USC is partnering with California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) on a new $1.3 million, five-year training grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to create a first-ofits-kind program to enhance diversity in the next generation of addiction scientists.

This innovative, transdisciplinary program will train undergraduate students from underrepresented minorities in the fields of alcohol and substance use disorders. The program, Rising STARS (Scientific Training in Alcohol Research and other Substances), will be led by Daryl Davies, associate dean of undergraduate education at the School of Pharmacy.

“Our mission is to develop the creativity and intellectual talents of our most motivated undergraduate students and enrich future addiction science research through their participation,” says Davies, associate director of the USC Institute for Addiction Science. The institute unites experts from the Keck School of Medicine of USC, USC School of Pharmacy, USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and other affiliated schools at USC as well as clinical centers that study and treat addiction.

The five-year educational and research experience program will recruit students from USC, CSULA and CDU. Rising STARS scholars will have the opportunity to train in preclinical, human laboratory, clinical, public health and policy approaches at USC under the direction of faculty mentors from a breadth of disciplines. Although Rising STARS scholars may ultimately choose to specialize in a specific area of addiction science, they will be exposed to many diverse applications to increase appreciation for the complexity of addiction and stimulate creative thinking that cuts across disciplines. After completing the program, scholars will be eligible for guaranteed interviews, select slots of PhD entry and application fee waivers at USC graduate schools.

“Our graduates will be poised to matriculate into PhD programs at USC and other leading universities that excel in addiction research,” says Davies, who is also director of the Alcohol and Brain Research Laboratory at the School of Pharmacy and the Timothy M. Chan Professor of Complementary Therapeutics.

Advancing Science on Addiction and Its Consequences

Substance abuse and overdose deaths have been on the rise for years in the United States but they surged amid the COVID19 pandemic, particularly among communities of color, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows.

Vassilios Papadopoulos, dean of the USC School of Pharmacy, notes that the grant comes at a time when substance use and addiction are at record levels in the United States, and yet access to treatment remains elusive for millions of Americans.

“Addiction science and the problem of addiction touch across just about every possible field in academics,” says Adam M. Leventhal, professor of preventive medicine and psychology at Keck School of Medicine and USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and founding director of the USC Institute for Addiction Science. “It’s difficult to think of a field where it’s not relevant.”