IMPACT Lab

Katherine Hampilos (former Research Coordinator), Elizabeth Purser (graduate student) and Cassandra Watters (current Research Coordinator) presented at the 2023 Society for Research on Adolescence in San Diego, California. Dr. Elizabeth Weybright served as conference program co-chair. Katherine Hampilos presented a poster titled Addressing Adolescent Cannabis Use in a Legalized Context: Pilot Evaluation of an Adapted Substance Use Prevention Program for Youth and Families. This presentation was part of the Adaptation of Strengthening Families Program 10-14 (SFP 10-14) for Legalized Marijuana Context project and was funded by USDA. Elizabeth Purser presented a poster titled Another Brick in the Wall: How are school risk and protective factors associated with adolescent hope? This research was part of the Prevention Science graduate degree program. Her advisor is Dr. Elizabeth Weybright. Cassandra Watters presented “I Never Realized How Hard Recovery Is.” Evaluation of a Youth Participatory Action Research Project for Opioid Misuse Prevention. This research is part of the Center for Rural Opioid Treatment and Recovery (CROP+TR) project and was funded by SAMHSA.

Congratulations Kathryn! Kathryn is in her final year of the Prevention Science PhD program, and her advisor is Dr. Cooper. This award honors CAHNRS graduate students who have demonstrated leadership that positively impacted their unit, college, campus, or wider community. These individuals have made significant positive contributions or improvements to the operations and functions of programs, initiatives, or organizations.

Dr. Brittany Cooper received the Faculty Excellence in Prevention Science: This award recognizes one faculty member annually for exceptional scholarly activity and contributions to the field and/or graduate program in Prevention Science. Kathryn Bruzios received the Outstanding Graduate Scholar in Prevention Science: This award recognizes a student for excellence and growth in research, skill acquisition, translation, and mentorship. Giselle Jimenez received the Exceptional Undergraduate Student in Prevention Science: This award recognizes students for exceptional scholarly growth and acquisition of research skills. Congratulations everyone!

Two graduate students and four undergraduate student members of the IMPACT Lab presented a variety of projects at the 2023 Prevention Science Graduate Student Organization Poster Session. Kathryn Bruzios presented Enhancing Pre-Professional Training for Prevention: A Curriculum Infusion Project. Kathryn is in her final year of her PhD program, and her supervisor is Dr. Brittany Cooper, and this poster was part of their work for the Northwest Prevention Technology Transfer Center. Jordan Newburg presented Nonsuicidal Self-Injury: Overview and Discussion of Next Steps. Jordan is a 4th year in the PhD program, and her supervisor is Dr. Brittany Cooper. Gavin Mina and Rittick Nandy co-presented Handgun Carrying Behaviors Among rural Adolescents: Implications for Prevention. This work was led by Dr. Elizabeth Weybright’s CDC funded study on Rural Adolescent Attitudes Toward Handguns and Carrying. Gavin and Rittick both graduate in May, 2023. Giselle Jimenez presented A Thematic Analyses of Latinx Parents’ Experiences of Sending their Students off to College. Giselle works with Dr. Jenn Duckworth on the FYAH Spanish Adaptation Project. Reece Schulke presented Differences in Youth Substance Use, Perception/Attitudes, and Protective Factors: Results from the WA State Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative. Reece works with Drs. Brittany Cooper and Gitanjali Shrestha on the Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative.

Konul Karimova presented Demonstrating the Use of a Realist Evaluation Framework to Design Complexity-Responsive Evaluation of a Large-Scale, Positive Youth Development Initiative. Konul works with Dr. Gitanjali Shrestha on the Economic Mobility and Responsible Parenting project.

Two of our undergraduate students presented at the 2023 Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities. Giselle Jimenez presented A Thematic Analyses of Latinx Parents’ Experiences of Sending their Students off to College and she received the Grey Award for Social Science Research. Giselle works with Dr. Jenn Duckworth on the FYAH Spanish Adaptation Project. Reece Schulke presented Differences in Youth Substance Use, Perception/Attitudes, and Protective Factors: Results from the WA State Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative. Reece works with Drs. Brittany Cooper and Gitanjali Shrestha on the Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative.

Gitanjali Shrestha received the Early Career Prevention Professional Award at the 2022 Washington State Prevention Summit’s Awards of Excellence ceremony. Congratulations Gitanjali!

Dr. Elizabeth Weybright's work on farm stress and rural/agricultural suicide prevention was featured in a WSU Insider article. The article specifically highlights Dr. Weybright's comments on the necessity of suicide prevention focused in rural and agricultural communities. You can read the article by clicking on this post.

Kathryn Bruzios chaired a symposium, Building a Bridge Between the Practice and Science of Implementation Support: Three Examples from Prevention Science. the symposium highlighted the Prevention Support System (Wandersman et al., 2008) which helps build general and intervention specific capacity in organizations that are delivering evidence based-programs. These studies helped improve understanding of the supports needed to scale evidence-based programs in real-world settings.

IMPACT Lab members Dr. Brittany Cooper, Dr. Elizabeth Weybright, Jordan Newburg and Kathryn Bruzios attended the 2022 Society for Implementation Research Collaboration Conference.

Cassandra Watters joined the IMPACT Lab in July 2022 as a new research coordinator. After graduation from the University of Arizona in 2020, she worked as a Lab Coordinator in the Child Cognition Lab at UArizona. Cassandra then completed a fellowship at Ochanomizu University in Tokyo, Japan, investigating mental healthcare provider training in Japan. As a research coordinator she is interested in translational science, and adolescent developmental psychopathology.

Brittany was selected by the Society for Prevention Research Early Career Preventionist Network (ECPN) Steering Committee to receive the 2022 Friend of ECPN Award. This award is given in recognition of Brittany's support of early career activities, by helping ECPN as an organization; promoting training, and early career involvement in prevention efforts; and encouraging early career Preventionists in their work. Brittany will be presented the award at the Annual Awards Presentation at the 30th Annual Meeting of the Society for Prevention Research.

Brittany was named President-Elect for the Society of Prevention Research. Brittany will serve a one year term (2022-2023) as president-elect, a two-year term as president (2023-2024) and one final term as past-president (2024-2025). We're proud of you, Brittany!

The WSU College of Agriculture, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences (CAHNRS) recently featured the work of IMPACT faculty Jen Duckworth. Funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Jen along with colleagues at the University of Washington conducted online confidential surveys with students at four- and tow-year college students to assess alcohol and marijuana use. The study found four-year college students drink more, use marijuana less than community college peers. To read the whole story in CAHNRS news, click here.

The University of Washington was one of nine awardees for the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts Grant. IMPACT lab members are contracting with UW to provide training and technical assistance through the center for the Strengthening Families Program Ages 10-14. IMPACT will also be providing expertise in dissemination and implementation science for the projects final evaluation design. Click here to read the FORE Foundation press release.

Kate presented on work from CROPTR exploring training needs of Opioid Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Providers in rural Washington. Results indicated that stigma prevented people from seeking opioid treatment and recovery resources in rural communities. Additionally, results showed that a majority of rural providers were interested in training topics on for opioid prevention, treatment, and recovery. Showcase is a weeklong celebration and recognition of WSU Faculty, Staff, and Students for the scholarly work that they have been completing.

Jordan presented two posters at WSU Showcase. The first presented findings from the Community Prevention and Wellness Initiative Evaluation project. The second presented Jordans findings from her masters thesis work exploring graduate student attitudes towards evidence-based programs. Showcase is a weeklong celebration and recognition of WSU Faculty, Staff, and Students for the scholarly work that they have been completing. Click here to see the poster from the CPWI evaluation.

The Society for Research on Adolescence Organizational Impact Award recognizes efforts that serve young people in diverse backgrounds through significant scientific, political, or programmatic contributions. The CROP+TR team was recognized for their work with Youth Participatory Action research projects aiming to help Washington State communities understand and address the opioid crisis. Click to read more!

IMPACT's Dr. Weybright was awarded the 2022 College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences (CAHNRS) Faculty Excellence in Extension Award. From the CAHNRS website, the Faculty Excellence in Extension Award was established to recognize faculty with Extension appointments in CAHNRS for program innovation, scope, the impact of their programs, and leadership. These areas could include the development of new or innovative programs, expanded linkages with non-college organizations, or innovative program delivery. Congratulations, Elizabeth!

Dr. Elizabeth Weybright's work on rural adolescent's attitudes toward handgun use was featured in the WSU Insider. Follow the link to learn more.