IMPACT Lab

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!

The Center for Rural Opioid Prevention Treatment and Recovery (CROP+TR), a SAMHSA funded grant project co-led by Dr. Elizabeth Weybright (WSU Human Development, IMPACT Lab) and Dr. Michael McDonnel (WSU College of Medicine, BHI Lab) is working to develop and disseminate technical assistance and training related to opioid misuse in Washington. This project will aim leverage our statewide Extension-based drug use prevention infrastructure, our expertise in providing training and technical assistance (TTA) for opioid treatment and recovery and our relationship with other SAMHSA TTA efforts to provide rural Washington communities with high quality TTA they need to combat the opioid epidemic. WSU Extension Clallam is an active part of the CROP+TR team working on developing opioid-specific curriculum adaptations along with treatment and recovery resources to the evidence-based intervention Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR). Click here to read the Sequim Gazette news article and about the work completed by Melanie Greer and Vicki Wegner.

After almost two years of remote work, the Northwest Prevention Technology and Transfer Center (NW PTTC) team was able to meet for a masked in-person meeting in Seattle. The NW PTTC is a collaborative effort led by the University of Washington, Washington State University and the University of Nevada at Reno. The NW PTTC aims to serve as the primary training and technical assistance (TTA) resource to Region 10 (Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Alaska) prevention practitioners. Click here to learn more about the NW PTTC!

The Center for Rural Opioid Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery (CROP+TR) is a joint project between the College of Medicine and Department of Human Development that aims to provide training and technical assistance to rural Washington communities on opioids. The Participatory Action Research with Teens (Take-PART) engages teens (14-18) by teaching them about the science of addiction, withdrawal, and prevention. Teens also learn data collection and research techniques. Click here to read the WSU Insider's news piece.

The Center for Rural Opioid Prevention Treatment and Recovery (CROP+TR), a SAMHSA funded grant project co-led by Dr. Elizabeth Weybright (WSU Human Development, IMPACT Lab) and Dr. Michael McDonnel (WSU College of Medicine, BHI Lab) is working to develop and disseminate technical assistance and training related to opioid misuse in Washington. This project will aim leverage our statewide Extension-based drug use prevention infrastructure, our expertise in providing training and technical assistance (TTA) for opioid treatment and recovery and our relationship with other SAMHSA TTA efforts to provide rural Washington communities with high quality TTA they need to combat the opioid epidemic. WSU Extension Spokane is an active part of the CROP+TR team working on developing opioid-specific curriculum adaptations along with treatment and recovery resources to the evidence-based intervention Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR). Click here to watch the news clip and skip to time point 3:00 to see Jennifer Fees, WSU Extension Spokane staff and CROP+TR project team.

WSU IMPACT lab graduate students Kat Bruzios, Erica Doering, and Jordan Newburg competed on team Nerd Immunity at the Society for Prevention Research Sloboda & Bukoski Cup in 2021. Each team receives the competition data set 2 months before the conference, at which point they conduct a literature review, generate hypotheses, and conduct analyses. Teams then present their results during the SPR annual meeting. A panel of senior prevention scientist judges and the audience at the symposium will rate the quality of the research work and of the presentation. Team Nerd Immunity was mentored by Dr. Jen Duckworth and their presentation was titled Bioecological Building Blocks for Neighborhoods: Considering Safety and Race in Child Development. We're proud of you all!