Juliet Lee, medical anthropologist at the Pacific Research Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) and Victor Garcia, Director of MARTI and Distinguished University Professor, have co-organized a workshop for the 39th annual Research Society on Alcoholism Scientific Meeting. The meeting, which is scheduled for June 25-29, 2016, in New Orleans, Louisiana, provides a meeting place for professionals from all over to interact and present on their alcohol-related research.

The workshop "Health Disparities in Alcohol and Other Drug Problems and Health Equity Approaches: Theories, Methods, and Applications" will review scientific goals for research on disparities in problems related to use and misuse of alcohol and other substances, provide frameworks for research and prevention, and demonstrate means to address identified challenges.

The workshop will include presentations that come from both established and emerging investigators representing basic science studies and preventive interventions addressing disparities experienced by African American, American Indian, Asian American, Latino, and LGBT communities. Speakers of the workshop include: Eliseo Prez-Stable, director of the National Institute on Minority Health Disparities at NIH; Judith A. Arroyo, PhD, a clinical psychologist and the Minority Health and Health Disparities coordinator for the Office of the Director at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; and Joseph G. L. Lee, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Education and Promotion at East Carolina University, among others. Roundtable discussions after each session will help to enhance interaction as well as foster sharing ideas and developing future research.

Those who are interested in participating in the workshop can find additional information on the conference website. Registration information and forms will be posted in March. Dates and deadlines for registration and fees for the conference can be found at the following links: Registration and Fees

The Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA)

The Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) was established in 1976 to assist and encourage the application of research to the solution of problems related to alcoholism. RSA was created to serve as a meeting ground for professionals and an interdisciplinary crossroad for the understanding of the causes of and potential cures for alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. The purpose of RSA is to promote research that can lead the way toward prevention and treatment of alcoholism.

One way that RSA serves as a meeting ground is through their annual meeting. It allows the opportunity to meet people in various disciplines that are doing alcohol-related research. The meeting also gives both members and nonmembers the opportunity to present their latest alcohol-related research. The 2016 RSA Scientific Meeting will be held June 25-29 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The primary goal of the meeting is to provide a forum for alcohol researchers to present their latest findings and learn about new research developments in an environment that promotes interaction.

Dr. Juliet Lee

Juliet Lee, medical anthropologist and co-sponsor of the "Health Disparities in Alcohol and Other Drug Problems and Health Equity Approaches: Theories, Methods, and Applications" workshop, received her MA in Asian Studies from the University of Hawaii and completed her PhD in Anthropology at the University of Virginia. For her dissertation, she conducted intensive ethnographic fieldwork on public policy and social change in eastern Indonesia. She joined the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) in 1999 as an NIAAA Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Prevention Research Center (PRC), a center of PIRE. PIRE's emphasis on environmental prevention research led to the creation of the PRC in 1983, one of 27 national centers funded by the National Institute of Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA). The focus of PRC is on preventing alcohol and other drug problems through understanding the social, cultural, and legal environments in which people live.

Lee's research focuses on social and environmental aspects of substance use and misuse, while emphasizing participatory approaches to research and prevention. Lee is currently the principal investigator on a mixed-methods study of bar drinking, co-principal investigator on a Youth Participatory Action Research project addressing tobacco environment for Southeast Asian American youth, and co-investigator on projects aiming to reduce and prevent drinking among Native American youth and smoking in tribal owned casinos. Her recent publications include: "A Critical assessment of bias in survey studies using location-based sampling to recruit patrons in bars" in Substance Use and Misuse; "Stigma among California's medical marijuana patients" in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs; and "Off-premise alcohol outlets on and around tribal land: Risks for rural California Indian youth" in the Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse.