UB psychologist appointed chair of NIH research review panel

Jennifer Read, professor and director of clinical training in the Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, has been appointed chair of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research review subcommittee.

A member of the subcommittee since 2016, Read was appointed in November as chair of the Epidemiology, Prevention and Behavior Research Review Group, a subcommittee of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) of the NIH. Her term runs through June 30, 2021.

“I’m honored to be serving the field in this capacity,” says Read, a UB faculty member since 2003. “Chairing a committee will be hard work, but I really believe that it is an important job, and so in that respect, it will be very rewarding.”  

The subcommittee reviews applications for “alcohol-related epidemiologic studies, prevention and consequences of a wide range of behaviors,” according to the NIH website. “This subcommittee reviews multidisciplinary perspectives and community factors in general or well-defined populations covering all age-ranges who are at risk for alcohol abuse.”

Director of the UB Alcohol Research Lab, Read’s research examines determinants of alcohol use among young adults, including such factors as personality, gender, affect, cognitions and social influences. Much of her research also focuses on trauma and post-traumatic stress, and how they may influence or be influenced by substance use, particularly in young adults. Her current projects focus on alcohol-involved sexual assault.

Her funded research has been supported by organizations such as the NIAAA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Fahs-Beck Fund and the American Medical Beverage Foundation.