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Speakers
Melissa A. Lewis, PhD – Professor in the School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Arlington
Dana M. Litt, PhD – Professor in the School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Arlington
Understanding Risk, Improving Health: Leveraging Technology to Understand and Reduce Health-Risk Behaviors Across Adolescence and Young Adulthood
Adolescence and young adulthood are critical developmental periods during which health-risk behaviors can emerge and become established, with important implications for long-term health and well-being. Advances in digital technology are transforming both how researchers identify the cognitive, social and contextual mechanisms underlying these behaviors and how interventions are developed and delivered to reduce risk.
Frontiers of BrainHealth is a hybrid speaker series. Register for the season, and you will get a link to the virtual talks as well as available recordings. If you are interested in attending any of the talks in person, please note that you can confirm attendance when we send you a reminder email a few days prior to each talk.
For more information, visit our FAQs or email brainhealthevents@utdallas.edu.
This presentation highlights complementary research from the Studying Alcohol and Related Risks (STARR) Lab that spans the continuum from understanding health-risk behavior to developing and implementing evidence-based prevention strategies.
- Dr. Melissa Lewis presents findings from Project PATH, which uses intensive longitudinal methods and ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine the real-time cognitive, social, and contextual factors that influence alcohol use, cannabis use, and related decision making in everyday life.
- Dr. Dana Litt presents Project PRISM, a web-based parenting intervention designed to target family-level risk processes by strengthening parent-adolescent communication and preventing adolescent substance use.
Together, these projects illustrate how technology can be leveraged to better understand risk, inform intervention development, and improve behavioral health outcomes for adolescents, young adults, and their families.
Melissa A. Lewis, PhD is an internationally recognized researcher studying alcohol use, cannabis use and sexual decision making among adolescents and young adults. Her research seeks to understand the cognitive, social, and contextual factors that contribute to health-risk behaviors, with the goal of developing and implementing evidence-based interventions that reduce acute and longer-term consequences. Dr. Lewis' work integrates intensive longitudinal methods, including ecological momentary assessment (EMA), mobile health technologies, and adaptive digital interventions to examine how risk unfolds in everyday life and how prevention strategies can be delivered in real time. Her current research focuses on alcohol use, cannabis use, simultaneous alcohol and cannabis use, sexual decision making, protective behavioral strategies, and implementation science, with an emphasis on improving the reach and effectiveness of interventions in community settings. She has served as Principal Investigator on six federally funded research projects supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and as Co-Investigator on more than twenty NIH-funded grants. Dr. Lewis has authored more than 170 peer-reviewed publications and has received national recognition for her contributions to the prevention of substance use, sexual risk reduction, and the advancement of technology-based behavioral interventions. Through her research, mentorship, and community partnerships, Dr. Lewis is committed to translating behavioral science into scalable interventions that improve health, reduce acute and longer-term consequences associated with substance use and sexual risk behaviors, and promote healthier developmental trajectories for adolescents and young adults.
Dana M. Litt, PhD is conducts theory-driven research primarily focused on examining decision-making processes behind why adolescents and young adults engage in health-risk behaviors, particularly alcohol use, and applies this knowledge to develop, test, and implement effective interventions at both the individual and family levels. A majority of her research explores the role of social influences, both offline (such as parental and peer pressures) and online (social media), in shaping decisions about alcohol use. By understanding the nature and impact of these social influences, she works to design and implement developmentally and culturally appropriate alcohol interventions in local communities. Across her work, Dr. Litt prioritizes community-engaged research and implementation science with the ultimate goals of addressing substance use, supporting individuals and families, and strengthening academic and community partnerships. Dr. Litt has served as Principal Investigator on 5 federally funded research projects supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and as Co-Investigator on over 10 NIH-funded research grants. Dr. Litt has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, contributing extensively to the understanding of offline and online social influences on adolescent and young adult substance use.
Watch select recordings below.
We are located at 2200 West Mockingbird Lane Dallas, TX 75235
The entrance to the surface parking lot is on Forest Park Road. The talks will be held in the Brain Performance Institute building, the second building when you enter through the gate.