The NIDA International Program and Division of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research (DESPR) cosponsored a poster session for international research at the Society for Prevention Research (SPR). The poster session opened the SPR Annual Meeting, which was held May 28–31, 2013, in San Francisco, California. Outgoing SPR President Deborah Gorman-Smith, Ph.D., University of Chicago; DESPR Prevention Research Branch Chief Harold I. Perl, Ph.D.; and NIDA International Program Associate Director Dale S. Weiss welcomed attendees to the poster session.
Ms. Weiss also participated in the preconference meeting of the SPR International Networking Forum. Participants from around the world discussed ways to promote international collaboration on prevention research. Jeff Lee, senior scientific advisor, The Mentor Foundation, introduced the group’s online Prevention Hub, which is expected to launch in late June 2013. Other speakers included John Toumbourou, Ph.D., Deakin University, Australia, who discussed the components of successful international collaborations; Moshe Israelashvili, Ph.D., Tel Aviv University, Israel, who reviewed the need for seed money to support international research; Giovanna Campello, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), who introduced new international standards for drug use prevention programs developed by UNODC; and Harry Sumnall, Ph.D., Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom, and outgoing president of the European Society for Prevention Research (ESPR), who discussed ESPR activities. Brenda A. Miller, Ph.D., Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, chaired the International Networking Forum. For more information about the International Networking Forum, email Dr. Miller at bmiller@prev.org.
NIDA provided travel awards to nine presenters in the International Poster Session:
- Australia: Nicola C. Newton, Ph.D., National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales; Secondary Effects of a Universal Internet-Based Program To Prevent Alcohol and Cannabis Use Amongst Australian Adolescents: Reducing Truancy, Moral Disengagement, and Psychological Distress.
- Brazil: Helena M. Barros, M.D., Ph.D., Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre; Effectiveness Evaluation of a Phone-Based Motivational Intervention for Licit and Illicit Drug Abuse.
- Mexico: Martha Givaudan, Ph.D., Instituto Mexicano de Investigacion de Familia y Población; I Want I Can: Effectiveness of School-Based Program for Teachers, Parents, and Children To Promote Free Smoke Environments.
- Nigeria: Boladale M. Mapayi, FWACP, Obafemi Awolowo University; Psychoactive Substance Use and Dating Violence in a Nigerian Sample.
- South Africa: Lisa Wegner, Ph.D., University of the Western Cape; Methamphetamine Use and Sexual Risk Behavior Among High School Students in Cape Town, South Africa.
- Spain: Carmen Orte, Ph.D., University of the Balearic Islands; Long-Term Evaluation of the Spanish Strengthening Families Program 6–11; Assessing the Effects of the Educational Intervention With High-Risk Families.
- Uganda: Rogers Kasirye, M.S.W., Uganda Youth Development Link; Supporting the Development of and Sustainability in Prevention of Drug Abuse Activities in East African Region.
- Ukraine: Valeriy V. Ryabukha, LL.M., Humanitarian Technologies Center of AHALAR; Evaluation of Choice: A School-Based Substance Abuse Prevention Program in Ukraine.
- United Kingdom: Anilena Mejia, M.Sc., University of Manchester, United Kingdom, and National Secretariat of Science in Panama; A Model for the Cross-Cultural Dissemination of a Preventive Parenting Program Into a Developing Country.