StuDy AimED at Increasing AlCohol AbsTinEnce (DEDICATE)

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The long-term objective of this award is to support Dr. Hagar Hallihan, an African American woman, in advanced training in clinical research and neuroscience and establishing an independent research program. Her research program focuses on developing clinically relevant and effective integrated behavioral

interventions to improve treatment efficacy and better understand the neuro mechanism of treatment for young adults with alcohol use disorder (AUD). Her mentorship team is a transdisciplinary group of senior scientists with research expertise in behavioral clinical trials, behavioral intervention development, AUD in young adults,

neuroimaging data, and quantitative and qualitative research methods. She will continue working with her current T32 mentor, Dr. Ma, a senior scientist with extensive experience mentoring trainees. This will be complemented by content and mentoring expertise from Drs. Ajilore, Rospenda, and Wu. Collectively, this

team will provide an outstanding training environment that will allow Dr. Hallihan to fill critical gaps in her knowledge and skill set relating to the study of behavior interventions and neural mechanisms underlying treatment for young adults with AUD. Her training goals are to develop skills in (1) designing and assessing

effectiveness of mechanistic randomized clinical trials, (2) competency in statistical and fMRI data analyses, and (3) knowledge and skills in the neurobiology of alcohol addiction. In addition, she will develop professional skills in scientific leadership and interdisciplinary team science. Achieving these goals will strengthen her

scholarly activities, establish important collaborations, and acquire critical data that will ensure her successful transition to independence. The proposed research plan builds on Dr. Hallihan’s prior research training in AUD among young adults. AUD, a chronic disease of impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use, is a costly major

public health problem, most prevalent in young adults (aged18-24 yr). Heavy alcohol consumption impairs brain structure and function, more severely in young adults than in older adults. However, evidence-based treatments for AUD in young adults are lacking, and the neural mechanisms following available behavior

treatments are poorly understood. The aims of the K99 phase are (1) to develop an integrated contingency management (CM) and Problem-Solving Therapy (PST), CM-PST intervention to improve alcohol abstinence among young adults with AUD, and (2) test feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. The aims of the R00

phase are to (1) test the efficacy of CM-PST vs CM alone in a 2-arm pilot RCT, and (2) assess neural mechanisms associated with CM-PST treatment effects in young adults with AUD. Support from this award will enable Dr. Hallihan to launch an independent program of research that contributes to the field by 1) developing

and implementing an innovative intervention to improve alcohol abstinence among young adults with AUD, and 2) assess neural mechanisms of successful treatment among young adults with AUD to inform future intervention and prevention efforts and ultimately reduce the public health burden of AUD.