The candidate, Dr. Jasmina Burdzovic Andreas, is seeking 5 years of support though the Mentored Career Development Award (K01) in order to (1) advance her understanding of adolescent substance use and abuse, (2) develop and expand an independent line of longitudinal research on risk and protective factors pertinent to etiology and epidemiology of substance use disorders among adolescent populations, and to (3) gain additional expertise in biostatistics and epidemiology as applied to the study of psychiatric disorders. The proposed award will provide the candidate with the training, mentoring, and research time necessary for the successful transition into the new fields of epidemiology and population mental health, and for the mastery of the relevant research methods. Specifically, Dr. Burdzovic Andreas aims to augment her existing training in developmental psychopathology and her methodologipal experience with longitudinal data to include epidemiologic approaches to the study of adolescent populations at risk, focusing primarily on substance use and abuse issues. Thus, the proposed K01 will allow Dr. Burdzovic Andreas to fully integrate her background in developmental psychopathology. Her existing statistical knowledge, and her continued research interest in the processes of risk and resilience with her long-term career goals of becoming an independent investigator concerned with epidemiology and etiology of adolescent substance use problems. The candidate will effectively take advantage of the interdisciplinary nature of her home institution department (Brown University, Department of Community Health) and its multiple research centers. She will work closely with a team of nationally recognized experts -- including Dr. Stephen Buka (primary mentor) and Drs. Joseph Hogan, Kristina Jackson, and Ronald Seifer (co-mentors) - who will support her in her training, research, and career development objectives. These objectives will be achieved though (1) additional training in substance use and misuse research, (2) the development of an independent line of research on adolescent substance use, which includes identifying and examining community-level factors associated with naturally-occurring desistence and cessation in substance use (i.e., tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana) among adolescents who had previously engaged in such behaviors, and (3) acquisition of further expertise in advanced biostatistics, longitudinal and epidemiologic research methods. The proposed research component will utilize data on adolescents from two existing longitudinal and community-representative data sets: (1) Springfield Child Development Project (SCDP, N = 357;Age range: 12-18) and (2) Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN, N = 2,976;Age range: 9-24). Together, these two data sets will allow for examination of different longitudinal profiles of adolescent substance use and abuse, as well as of identification of unique constellations of broader ecological factors associated with naturally occurring reductions in these problems - ultimately informing prevention and treatment efforts.
| Burdzovic Andreas, Jasmina; Jackson, Kristina M (2015) Adolescent alcohol use before and after the high school transition. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 39:1034-41 |
| Andreas, Jasmina Burdzovic; Watson, Malcolm W (2009) Moderating effects of family environment on the association between children's aggressive beliefs and their aggression trajectories from childhood to adolescence. Dev Psychopathol 21:189-205 |
