Reach News

30 Mar ACE Project off to a great start!

The ACE Project just launched it’s first week of running participants. Four families have attended the Center for Imaging Science at FIU’s main campus this week to complete the first portion of this longitudinal research project. Adolescents and their caregivers were invited to the center to complete survey questions related to their thoughts and use of different substances, including electronic cigarettes. Principal Investigators, Drs. Elisa Trucco and Matthew Sutherland, and ACE Project staff are excited to welcome more participants in April!

30 Mar ReACH Lab Presents at FIU’s Annual Undergraduate Conference

On Tuesday, March 27, 2018, ReACH Lab Member, Patricia Otero, presented at FIU’s Annual Undergraduate Conference. In collaboration with the ReACH Lab and the ARCH program, Patrica investigated the effect of parental monitoring on problematic alcohol use from adolescence to early adulthood across variants of a specific genetic risk factor: GABRA2 single nucleotide polymorphism.

Using data collected by the Michigan Longitudinal Study, she found that the relation between parental monitoring and problematic alcohol use changes over time and may differ depending on the youth’s genetic makeup. This work makes an important contribution to the field in determining when parenting practices have the strongest impact on youth drinking and which youth are most vulnerable to poor parenting practice.

In recognition for all her support and guidance, Patricia would like to give a special thanks to her mentor Dr. Elisa Trucco. She would also like to thank the FIU’s Honors College for allowing her to participate in her own research project throughout the course of the school year.

If you would like to read more about Patricia’s research, just click here: Patricia Otero – ARCH Poster

19 Mar ReACH Lab Presents at the CPA Conference

Congratulations to ReACH Lab graduate student, Barry Ladis, for presenting his dissertation to the 6th Annual Collaborative Perspectives on Addiction Conference in Tampa, FL. His poster was entitled, “Longitudinal Effects of Peer, School, and Parenting Contexts on Substance Use Initiation in Middle Adolescence” is a collaboration between the Psychology Department and faculty from the School of Social Work (Drs. Barbara Thomlison, Nicole Fava, and Hui Huang). ReACH Lab graduate student, Julie Cristello, also attended the conference and showed her support!

22 Feb ACE Project’s First Participant Recruitment Event

ACE Project staff, Brigitte, Nazz, and Jessica kicked off the ACE Project 2-day recruitment event at Coral Park High School. Over 300 high school students already expressed interest in participating in the project.

09 Feb Barry Ladis published his first manuscript!

Congratulations to ReACH Lab graduate student, Barry Ladis, on publishing his first manuscript. His paper entitled, “Parent-focused preventative interventions for youth substance use and problem behaviors: A systematic review” is published in Research on Social Work Practice.

15 Dec ReACH Lab Celebrates a Successful Semester!

The ReACH Lab got together to celebrate a successful semester. Former ReACH lab graduate student, Barry Ladis, had a poster accepted to CPA and received a graduate student fellowship! Current ReACH lab graduate student, Julie Cristello, was featured as an SRA Emerging Scholar and received a Flexibility Fund from the Academy of Psychological Clinical Science to receive training in social media research. Thanks for all the hard work, Barry and Julie!

30 Nov FIU-RCMI Celebration

FIU recently celebrated the funding of Florida’s first Health Disparities Research Center at a Minority Institution (RCMI). Among the guests are FIU’s President Rosenberg and Provost Kenneth Furton. The $13.1 million grant will fund work focused on reducing substance use problems and HIV in partnership with South Florida communities and schools. ReACH Lab Director, Dr. Trucco, is one of the lead investigators on the grant.