Category: Research News


Dr. Hee Yun Lee (MPI) awarded grant from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s funding program Data Visualization of Structural Racism and Place

Dr. Hee Yun Lee (MPI) and her team were awarded a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s funding program Data Visualization of Structural Racism and Place.  Thier project will create graphic representations of complex data that can be used to help understand the influence of structural racism on anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project will also examine…


UA Social Work Develops Behavioral Health App for State

Working with several state agencies and nonprofit organizations, researchers and social work experts at The University of Alabama gathered all education, information and services related to substance use, mental health and prevention for an easy-to-use app that instantly provides access to the resources people need to take the next step. The Connect Alabama app was…


SSWR Recap, Lee Elected to Board of Directors

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite the threat of the ongoing global pandemic, representatives from the University of Alabama School of Social Work found ways to stay safe and make the trip to the nation’s capital for the 26th Annual Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Conference held at Marriott Marquis Washington DC. In all, UASSW…


‘The Cost of Recovery is Unbelievable’

Child Trafficking Study Yields Statewide Protocol, Reveals Major Voids in Services By David Miller March 10, 2021 With several book chapters and manuscripts on the horizon, the impact of the Juvenile Victims of Human Trafficking in Alabama Project will be reflected in a variety of ways, particularly in the connections formed with state agencies and…


UA Team to Build Opioid Prevention, Recovery Network in State

HRSA-funded project to target five high-risk counties By David Miller TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Following a year of community engagement and assessments of health and rehabilitation services across rural Alabama, a University of Alabama-led team of researchers is ready to implement a robust opioid prevention, treatment and recovery network in the state. The Health Resources and…


NIA, NSF to Fund Ruggiano’s Tech-Focused Dementia Care Projects

  By David Miller Aug. 31, 2020 The National Institute on Aging has awarded $1.6 million to researchers from The University of Alabama and Florida International University to design touch-screen technology to improve communication between dementia patients and their caregivers. Dr. Nicole Ruggiano, associate professor in the UA School of Social Work and co-principal investigator…


SAMHSA to Fund Lee’s Mental Health Training for Police

Lee, UA colleagues will also develop web-based app for real-time use April 12, 2020 By David Miller Law enforcement officers throughout Tuscaloosa County will soon be better equipped to interact with citizens who have serious mental illness and substance abuse. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has awarded University of Alabama School…


Vital Team Receives $3.2 Million Grant to Train EMS Personnel for Opioid Overdoses

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama School of Social Work and the Alabama Department of Mental Health’s efforts to stem opioid use and rates of overdose deaths in Alabama have a new focus: first responders. The School’s Vital Team, which oversees a trio of state-focused behavioral health projects, will soon begin work on “Project…


Vital Team to Tackle Infant Mortality in Alabama Through AL-SBIRT Program

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – University of Alabama School of Social Work researchers will soon expand a statewide drug and mental health screening program to address infant mortality in Alabama. The School of Social Work’s Vital team, which oversees an $8 million AL-SBIRT contract, recently received $750,000 from the state to begin, “Reducing Infant Mortality Through Improved…


UA Professor David Albright concludes work on National Academies’ committee

David L. Albright, Hill Crest Foundation Endowed Chair in Mental Health and professor, has concluded his work on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to the Committee on the Well-being of Military Families. In Fall 2018, Dr. Albright was appointed to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering committee to study the challenges and opportunities facing…