CASAA 2022 Annual Review

Center on Alcohol, Substance Use and Additions (CASAA)

Dr. Katie Witkiewitz

Director

Fiscal Year 2022 Annual Review of Category 3 Research Centers/Institutes | Revision Date: Sep 30, 2022

Mission

• Our first priority is to reduce suffering caused by substance use and other addictive behaviors. We do this by generating high quality prevention and treatment research. We do our best work by collaborating with colleagues and working across disciplines, which helps us answer more important questions about substance use than we otherwise could. At CASAA we are committed to sharing our knowledge with fellow scientists, practitioners and individuals who are directly impacted by substance use. It matters to us that our work makes an impact both here in our state and in our larger community.

• CASAA investigators, affiliated with the Departments of Psychology, Sociology, and Economics, are leaders nationally in 12-step research; research on Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Treatment, mindfulness-based interventions, and the Community Reinforcement Approach; family-involved treatment models; training, dissemination, and implementation research; development of instruments; studies of mechanisms of change; clinical research in special populations, particularly adolescents, women, Hispanic, American Indian/Alaska Native, and criminal justice populations; research on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders; and research on methods to reduce harm from risky drinking.

FY 2022 Goals and Status

Goal: Maintain a high profile as a world-class research center in the national/international scientific communities, in the New Mexico Community, and within UNM (successful)

Status: We received a $10+ million dollar NIH Center Grant, 5 faculty served on NIH grant review committees, 1 faculty served on NIH Advisory Council, CASAA sponsored national conferences and hosted a CASAA research day, faculty, staff and students published in high quality scientific journals, faculty served on UNM IRB, COI, and executive search committees, as well as state-wide committees and national and international committees

Goal: Serve as a center for scientific and applied training in the addictions field (successful)

Status: (1) Successful continuation of the NIH Institutional Research Training grant supporting 4 pre- and 3 post-doctoral trainees, (2) supported a majority of the Grand Challenge funded pilot studies, (3) mentoring of main campus faculty in through grant writing seminar, (4) mentoring of graduate students through the Grand Challenge Student Scholars program

Goal: Have a cadre of investigators pursuing their own individual lines of research (successful)

Status: Continued externally funded research in: mutual help programs and recovery from alcohol use disorder; clinical trials for alcohol use disorder, opioid use disorder, and pain; mechanisms of behavior change; measurement and mixed methods research; and college-based prevention programs.

Goal: Conducted national search for CASAA director hire (successful)

Status: Three qualified finalists recruited and interviewed. Hired Dr. Witkiewitz as new CASAA Director.

Goal: Have at least 12 investigators at different career levels (successful)

Status: Maintained and grew the size of core group of principal investigators. Successfully recruited Dr. Cassandra Boness as Research Assistant Professor, Dr. Frank Schwebel transitioned from postdoctoral fellow to fully-funded Research Assistant Professor, and recruited new Research Assistant Professors, Drs. Megan Kirouac and Laura Brown.

Goal: Have an effective administrative organization to support the mission and goals of CASAA (successful)

Status: Continued successful management and support of CASAA investigators

Membership of Advisory Committee

• Membership List

Mark Peceny, Former Dean College of Arts and Sciences, Professor of Political Science

Daniel Savage, Distinguished Professor, Department of Neurosciences

Jane Ellen Smith, Professor Psychology

Jay Parkes, Professor of Educational Psychology

• In CY21, the advisory committee did not meet, formally. Interactions with advisory committee members occurred on an individual ad hoc basis, as needed.

• Goal for upcoming year is to revise the Advisory Committee membership

FY 2022 Highlights

CASAA Director and new Hires. Dr. Katie Witkiewitz is a senior investigator with a 10-year tenure at CASAA and accepted the position as the next CASAA Director after a competitive, nationwide external search. Numerous CASAA faculty served on the search committee, which was chaired by Dr. Tonigan. Dr. Cassandra Boness was hired as research assistant professor after a competitive nationwide external search. Drs. Megan Kirouac and Laura Brown were hired as research assistant professors with funding on existing CASAA grants.

Pandemic Response. In the past two years, we have successfully transitioned to in person and hybrid human subjects research in July 2020. All funded projects continue to be successful with a variety of in person, hybrid, and all virtual formats. The pandemic has led to new research directions with respect to telehealth approaches to the prevention and treatment of substance use disorder.

Major Awards. Drs. Katie Witkiewitz and Matthew Pearson (multiple PIs) received the UNM IMPOWR NIH Center Grant in September 2021, this five year award ($10 million +) will support two major projects and up to 10 pilot projects focused on opioid use disorder and chronic pain. The Center grant will also support 3 postdoctoral fellows (to be hired) and provides partial support for all of the CASAA research administrative staff. Drs. Cassandra Boness and Margo Hurlocker received five-year NIH Career Development Awards. Drs. Frank Schwebel and Verlin Joseph received competitive Diversity Supplements to existing NIH Grants at CASAA. Drs. Witkiewitz and Hurlocker are Co-Investigators on the $15.6 million NIH FIRST grant to UNM.

Faculty Accolades. Dr. Katie Witkiewitz was promoted to Distinguished Professor. Dr. Brady Horn was promoted to Professor of Economics, Dr. Matthew Pearson was promoted to Research Professor, and Dr. Frank Schwebel was promoted to Research Assistant Professor. Dr. Katie Witkiewitz received the UNM Alumni Association Inaugural Faculty Research Award. Dr. Brady Horn received the Georgescu-Roegen Prize for the best academic article published in the Southern Economic Journal. Dr. Cassandra Boness received three outstanding Dissertation Awards and the Junior Investigator Award from the Research Society on Alcoholism. Dr. Richards received an Outstanding Dissertation Award and 2 Conference Travel awards. Dr. Kuhlemeier received a Dissertation Travel award. Dr. Hurlocker received a RAC award.

Publicity. CASAA programs and investigators were featured over 20 times in local and national news outlets. Drs. Tonigan and Witkiewitz each presented to the NM Legislature Health and Human Services Committee, and Dr. Horn made a presentation to the Economic Development and Policy Committee.

Proposals and Awards (Last 5 fiscal years)

FY 2022 Sources of Revenue

• FY21 Reserves ($572,207.82)

• FY22 F&A Budget ($530,000.00)

• ADOBE Sub Tenant Revenue ($11,690.23)

• Petty Cash Surrendered ($7,000.00)

• COSAP I&G Revenue ($113,179.80)

CASAA Revenue Details

REVENUE

FY22 Beginning Reserves

FY22 F&A Allocated Budget

Lease Revenue/ADOBE Petty Cash Surrendered

COSAP I&G Allocation

COSAP Reserves

CASAA Research Expenditures and F&A (last 5 fiscal years)

Expenditures

Total Research Expenditures for your Organization

CASAA Expenditure Details

Lease

Printing/software/computer etc

FY 2022

Expenditures (Includes COSAP)

• Lease ($298,453.36)

• Salary & Fringe ($528,944.02)

• Printing/Software/Co mputer, etc. ($11,307.80)

• Staff Professional Development ($17,367.16)

• Phones ($4,500.46)

• Security ($14,488.76)

• CASAA Car Ins ($212.74)

• Other: Banner Tax & Foundation ($2,546.89)

Phones

CASAA Car Insurance

Salary/Fringe

Staff Professional Dev

Security

Other (Banner Tax, Foundation)

Research Center Impacts

Resources provided for the campus

• CASAA faculty have served as chair for Associate Dean for Research Search Committee and the Executive Council for the College of Population Health

• The Campus of Office of Substance and Alcohol Prevention (COSAP) provided Title IV mandated alcohol education and campus-wide alcohol, tobacco, and drug prevention programs, creation of the UNM Collegiate Recovery Center in partnership with COSAP and Substance Use Disorder Grand Challenge

• Faculty Service on main campus Conflict of Interest (COI) and IRB committees

• Mentoring, training, and resources to support and add momentum to non-CASAA faculty NIH grant writing

• Mentoring and training of 58 undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral fellows

• Dr. Horn served on the UNM Homelessness Research Task Force and is on the UNM Retirement Plan Investment committee

• Created content for UNM Wellness page focused on smoking and drinking alcohol during COVID 19, with resources for reducing risk from substance use

Outreach efforts supporting the Grand Challenge

• Collaborated with investigators in developing and funding 19 pilot awards to UNM investigators (10 awarded to CASAA investigators)

• Developed and successfully implemented Grand Challenge Student Scholars program that supported 9 UNM Graduate students

• Delivered presentations to Grand Challenge Steering Committee, and provided content for Grand Challenge events

• Reviewed proposals and provided mentorship for the newest Grand Challenges Level 1 Concept Teams

Contributions to education and intellectual environment: Courses and seminars

• Virtual 8-week NIH grant writing seminar offered free of charge to university faculty and students

• Fall and spring Addiction seminar open to psychology pre-doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows

• Faculty labs included mentoring/support of undergraduate research

• Developed online version of PSY430 Alcohol Use Disorders course as part of the Accelerated Online Degree Program

• RPSP to develop Masters Degree in Psychology to train behavioral health and addiction treatment providers in New Mexico

• Painter-Davis led successful application of UNM to participate in Second Chance Pell Experiment, which provides scholarships for incarcerated individuals to receive undergraduate education

Center serves as a resource for the state/region

• Two Presentations to the NM Legislative Health and Human Services Committee (Drs. Tonigan and Witkiewitz), one presentation t o Economic Development and Policy Committee (Dr. Horn)

• Service as members of NM Public Health and Safety Advisory Committee (Drs. Pearson and Witkiewitz), the NM Overdose Prevention and Pain Management Advisory Council (Dr. Starling), the NM Sentencing Commission (Dr. Horn), and the Bernalillo County Addiction Treatment Advisory Board (Dr. McCrady)

• Directly funded work with community treatment providers to develop better ways to treat substance use disorders and to train providers in delivering treatments

• CASAA website with freely available assessment tools used for substance use prevention and treatment

• Co-led the development of an alcohol and mental health ECHO (Dr. Boness)

Return on Investment

• CASAA research and mentorship resulted in 1 Psychology Honors degree, 5 M.S. degrees, and 4 Ph.D. degrees in 20212022

• CASAA provides full stipend and training support for 7 trainees via our NIH funded T32 training grant (3 postdoctoral and 4 predoctoral fellows), who have been highly successful in obtaining academic careers and in receiving independent funding as PIs

• 58 undergraduate, graduate, and post doctoral fellows received research training by CASAA investigators. 20 undergraduate students supervised in research labs, and 32 graduate students conducted research, were in CASAA labs, attended CASAA training webinar, and/or were supported by grant funded research

• In 2021, CASAA faculty published 102 papers in top addiction and psychology and psychiatry journals, and so far in 2022 CASAA faculty have published 54 papers. In 2021, CASAA faculty gave 61 conference presentations and invited talks

• CASAA faculty received $7,617,669 in research awards in 2022

• Industry and community engagement

• The IMPOWR Center and CTN096 Grants have developed community advisory boards to guide research agendas and dissemination of findings. Drs. Venner and Vasquez lead the field in community-based approaches to substance use disorder prevention and treatment

• We have developed a new CASAA Community Advisory Board to develop a standing board to provide a community-based participatory research resource to CASAA investigators

• Dr. Boness has co-led the development of a new alcohol and mental health ECHO to train NM providers in evidence-based treatment of alcohol use disorder

• Dr. Noah Painter Davis continues to engage with the First District Attorney’s office in NM to develop diversion practices for juveniles and young-adults. He also works with the NM Corrections Department to improve treatment linkage for individuals returning from prison who use or are at risk for opioid use disorder and to offer educational opportunities to individuals incarcerated in New Mexico through UNM online learning

• Dr. Witkiewitz continues a partnership with pharmaceutical companies and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to improve methodology for alcohol clinical trials and to encourage new clinical endpoints by the Food and Drug Administration

• Dr. Horn serves on the NM Sentencing Commission and has devoted part of his time to examining economic policies related to alcohol sales and taxation in New Mexico

• Dr. Laura Brown has initiated a program of research to study the feasibility of a managed alcohol program in Santa Fe

Over 3 decades leading the field with national and international reputation for rigorous training, assessment, treatment, dissemination, and research

Vibrant and thriving collaborations across UNM, HSC, MRN, New Mexico, United States, and internationally (Denmark, Argentina, Spain, Poland)

Phenomenal training program with exceptional mentees and mentors – building and launching successful careers

Tremendous staff provide timely and high quality support to investigators

Productive and responsive resource for UNM Grand Challenge initiative

Funds for pilot studies via new investigator support index and IMPOWR Center

Financial burden of having to pay full costs for building, security, and telephones

Need for stable and equitable F&A sharing MOU between CASAA and HSC

Off-campus CASAA location limits collaborations between CASAA and main campus investigators

Retention of investigators; retirement of senior investigators and financially bridging prospective and new investigators

Still struggling to gain reputation within UNM and New Mexico as leading resource for substance use disorder research, prevention, and treatment

New hires will hopefully bring more research dollars and stability of F&A generated

Expand and refine virtual NIH grant trainings and sustain virtual communication platform to reduce CASAA facility square footage needs

Respond to NIH RFA’s for larger center grants, e.g.,P50 and U01

Capitalize on new federal priorities to increase substance use research in rural communities with demonstrated health disparities

Expand collaborations with the Mind Research Network and UNM HSC

Expand and enhance mobile device research to respond to New Mexico health disparities and social problems associated with the pandemic

Submission to funding rate needs to be improved, faculty will ultimately burn out on unsuccessful grant submissions

Retention of early career investigators via grant funding or other positions at UNM

Attrition of senior investigators to mentor postdoctoral fellows and new investigators.

High fixed expenses (e.g., lease) pose serious threat to fiscal stability of CASAA

Need for timely F&A distributions from HSC to CASAA

WEAKNESSES STRENGTHS OPPORTUNITIES

THREATS

Looking Ahead to Fiscal Year 2023

• Establish new external advisory committee, and develop new mission statement and strategic plan. Work to develop shared goals, shared policies, and conflict goals and policies.

• Further enhance our profile as a world-class research center and resource in the national/international scientific community, in the greater NM community, and within UNM. Continue to support Grand Challenge by engaging with new concept teams and continuing to support those with pilot funding in completing projects and pursuing extramural funding. Faculty continue to serve as members of NIH grant review committees, continue CASAA lecture series in virtual format, and faculty continue to publish in high quality scientific journals. Deepen and expand CASAA partnerships with treatment providers and policy makers in New Mexico, as well as continue to build and nourish stronger relationships with HSC investigators. Continue to develop community engagement resources.

• Recruit at least one new principal investigator (current active search in College of Arts & Sciences) to CASAA in order to have a full cadre of investigators pursuing their own individual lines of research, with an emphasis on increasing our rate of NIH submissions. Related, pursue NIH mechanisms that will ultimately lead to a larger center grant applications. We will interview and, ideally, hire an Assistant or Associate professor tenure-track faculty position at CASAA. Additional prospective UNM investigators will be cultivated via the CASAA virtual grant writing seminar and outreach to investigators who have been working with CASAA researchers. Develop collaborative NIH R01 proposals working within similar themes and measurement/methods to ultimately lead to a competitive P50 or P60 center grant proposal. Renew our T32 Training Grant.

• Address the challenge of covering CASAA lease expense. CASAA is fully responsible for the expense of leasing our off-campus facility, and this responsibility accounts for 34% of the centers annual expenditures. Thus, we will continue to coordinate with UNM units responsible for leasing, developing and acquiring property to define options for securing a facility that supports the CASAA mission. CASAA has developed a sublease with the HSC ADOBE program and we are also pursuing renewing our existing lease with only the first floor. This alternative has become increasingly attractive because remote work and virtual research platforms implemented in response to the pandemic has demonstrated that a reduction in CASAA space will not adversely impact CASAA activities or mission.

Summary

CASAA will continue to sustain and grow a culture of inclusive excellence to promote high quality and high impact interdisciplinary research and training in the study of alcohol, substance use, and addictions; to foster community engagement; and to improve the health and well-being of all New Mexicans.

CASAA is committed to serving as the leading research and training institute within the state of New Mexico focused on the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders and other addictive behaviors.