Information Dissemination Core

The overall goal of the Information Dissemination Core of the UNC Alcohol Research Center is to disseminate current research on alcohol drinking in youth and adults to key stakeholders in the broader community. We will accomplish these aims by leveraging established and new partnerships with state agencies, local science museums, educators, nonprofits, and community groups. In Aim 1, we will disseminate information on the neurobiological consequences of adolescent binge drinking to local and regional stakeholders. Our target groups are parents and community members across the state of North Carolina. We also target college students who are at risk for alcohol-related harm and high school students, with the goal of binge drinking prevention. In Aim 2, we will coordinate bidirectional, translational education with fellows in the UNC Addiction Medicine Fellowship and postdocs and other trainees in the Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies (BCAS). This facilitated interaction between addiction clinicians and basic scientists will benefit the training of both groups and synergizes with the translational research supported in the UNC Alcohol Research Center. In Aim 3, we will train BCAS scientists in community outreach and dissemination of scientific information. This includes the development of interactive learning modules around neuroscience concepts and training BCAS scientists to engage children and families with these modules to promote scientific literacy and enthusiasm. We will also maintain a website with resources for families and educators, including those resources developed over the years by this Core. We will track metrics of success for each of these activities, both to evaluate their effectiveness and to improve our approach. Collaborative partnerships for the dissemination of scientific insight on alcohol drinking across the lifespan, with an emphasis on adolescence, optimize our impact on public knowledge and health.