A University of Michigan Addiction Center researcher working to address the opioid crisis as part of the National Institute of Health’s Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL)® Prevention Cooperative (HPC) reflected on her career journey and research agenda on the latest episode of the Women Leading Prevention Science podcast.
In a recent episode titled Intersecting Identities: First Gen Women Scientists, Episode #12, Erin Bonar, Ph.D., discussed her work in substance use prevention, researching ways to prevent and treat substance use disorders.
The Women Leading Prevention Science podcast series features conversations between two women researchers at the forefront of substance use prevention science. Conversations cover a variety of topics, including work-life balance, challenges breaking into the field, intervening in specific youth populations, and life experiences that fuel a passion for research.
The podcast aims to inspire and inform women researchers, early career investigators, and students in public health about career avenues in prevention science. Additionally, the podcast provides a platform for women prevention researchers to tell stories, share perspectives, and uplift one another in professional and personal pursuits. The HPC is funded by the National Institutes of Health's Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative®.
I think it's really important that you highlight the dual identity of first-generation and women in academia. I think it's critical that we're not one without the other and there may be other also multiple intersecting identities. - Erin Bonar, Ph.D.
Each episode consists of an approximately 30-minute conversation with two prevention scientists who are investigating strategies to curb adolescent and young adult opioid misuse as part of the HPC. Podcasts for the second series are released biweekly and include discussions of journeys through graduate school, establishing intervention partnerships with the educational system, elevating the voices of indigenous people in research, serving populations of youth who are housing insecure or homeless, allowing your passions to drive your research goals, exploring public health research roles with a federal agency, and much more.
The series is produced and distributed by the HEAL Prevention Coordinating Center (HPCC), part of the HPC, based at RTI. It will be available on most podcast platforms including Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Player FM, Podcast Addict, Podcast Index, Stitcher, Overcast, iHeartRadio Podcasts, Castbox, Pocket Casts, TuneIn, Pod Chaser, and Deezer by searching "Women Leading Prevention Science."
About the HPC
HPC supports the development and dissemination of strategies to prevent opioid misuse and opioid use disorder among young people. The HPC consists of 10 research projects and a coordinating center that work across a variety of settings and populations to test preventive intervention strategies. For more information, visit NIH’s website.
About the NIH HEAL Initiative
The Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative®, is an aggressive, trans-NIH effort to speed scientific solutions to stem the national opioid public health crisis. Launched in April 2018, the initiative is focused on improving prevention and treatment strategies for harmful opioid use and addiction and enhancing pain management. For more information, visit: https://heal.nih.gov.
