Center for Applied Research on Substance Use and Health Disparities

3 DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE The Cen t e r f o r App l i ed Resea r ch on Subs t ance Use and Hea l t h D i spa r i t i es ( ARSH ) ce l eb ra t ed many accomp l i shmen t s i n 2016 . ARSH con t i nues to be a l eade r i n sponso r ed r esea r ch a t Nova Sou t heas t e rn Un i ve r s i t y. Ou r i n t e rna t i ona l r esea r ch on p r esc r i p t i on d rug d i ve r s i on ; ou r l oca l , na t i ona l and i n t e rna t i ona l d rug ep i demi o l og y s t ud i es ; and ou r ongo i ng Sou t h F l o r i da - based r esea r ch among vu l ne rab l e popu l a t i ons y i e l ded mo r e t han 20 pub l i ca t i ons t h i s yea r, as we l l as nume rous sc i en t i f i c p r esen t a t i ons a t l oca l , na t i ona l , and i n t e rna t i ona l con f e r ences . We t ake pa r t i cu l a r p r i de i n t he accomp l i shmen t s o f Sen i o r Ep i demi o l og i s t J im Ha l l t h i s pas t yea r. H i s deep unde r s t and i ng o f how to f o l l ow new d rug t r ends and ra i se app rop r i a t e wa rn i ngs to l oca l , na t i ona l and i n t e rna t i ona l commun i t i es i s i nva l uab l e to pub l i c hea l t h . As can be seen f rom ou r med i a pages i n t h i s r epo r t , J im’ s expe r t i se i s a lway s i n demand , and he con t i nues to be a s t rong r ep r esen t a t i ve f o r ARSH and f o r t he Un i ve r s i t y. We l ook fo rwa rd to t he f ru i t i on o f a numbe r o f new i n i t i a t i ves i n 2017 , i nc l ud i ng t he ongo i ng expans i on o f ou r p r esc r i p t i on d rug d i ve r s i on s t ud i es to a l l o f Canada , as we l l as a new s t udy o f d rugged d r i v i ng behav i o r s among young adu l t s . ARSH i nves t i ga to r s r ece i ved new suppo r t f o r p rog ram eva l ua t i on s t ud i es on f ede ra l l y - f unded p ro j ec t s , and have a numbe r o f new p ro j ec t s on t he d rawi ng boa r d . These i nc l ude ep i demi o l og i c s t ud i es o f eme r g i ng p r esc r i p t i on d r ugs o f abuse , such as gabapen t i n , as we l l as e t hnog raph i c s t ud i es o f eme r g i ng t r ends i n d rug abuse and i n f ec t i ous d i sease p r even t i on . Ou r co l l abo ra t i ons wi t h sc i en t i s t s ac ross t he coun t r y and t he g l obe con t i nue to expand . Pub l i ca t i ons i n deve l opmen t i nc l ude con t r i bu t i ons f rom sc i en t i s t s a t Un i ve r s i t y o f Ken t ucky, Un i ve r s i t y o f Sou t h F l o r i da , Case Wes t e rn Rese r ve Un i ve r s i t y, Da l hous i e Un i ve r s i t y ( Canada ) , and Fede ra l Un i ve r s i t y o f R i o Grande do Su l ( Braz i l ) . The wo r k we do r equ i r es a t eam e f f o r t . We wi sh to t hank a l l o f ou r r esea r ch s t a f f , ex t e rna l co l l abo r a t o r s , and t he NSU commun i t y f o r you r v i s i on , commi tmen t s and t a l en t s . We sha r e ARSH ’ s success f u l yea r wi t h a l l o f you . St even P. Ku r t z D i r ec to r