Three Epidemiology doctoral students, Nicole Fitzgerald, Alyssa Falise, and Nae Won, received the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) NIDA Director’s Travel Awards. This award is given to 20 early-career scientists to cover the costs of travel to attend the CPDD 84th Annual Scientific Meeting that was held on June 11-15, 2022. Recipients of the awards are given the opportunity to participate in the Brunch with Champions. This annual tradition allows junior faculty, post-docs, and students to network over brunch with some of the most influential and esteemed investigators in the substance use field. Along with the awardees, four additional epidemiology students had the opportunity to present during the symposium.
Alyssa Felise says, “I had the opportunity to network with and meet several of the people I had only previously seen on Zoom – which was so exciting! I presented my scientific poster entitled “Sleep Motivated Non-Medical Use of Prescriptions & Polysubstance Use” and learned about several universities’ research interests, post-doctoral programs, and current projects. On June 15, Nae, Nicole, and I also attended the Brunch with Champions – an annual tradition allowing junior faculty, post-docs, and students to network over brunch with some of the most influential and esteemed investigators in substance use. I am also very thankful to UF’s Center for Addiction Research & Education and the Department of Epidemiology for their financial support that allowed this to happen.”