By Michelle Jaffee
Sara Jo Nixon, Ph.D., is among international experts selected for a new publicly available video series that aims to provide the latest research on alcohol use disorder and its many complexities.
The video series, developed by the Research Society on Alcoholism, offers insight on multiple angles of alcohol use disorder, from fetal alcohol spectrum disorders to alcohol and cancer to alcohol-related health disparities. The lectures are delivered by distinguished scholars who delve into both preclinical and human-subject research into various aspects of the disease. Nixon, a professor of psychiatry and psychology at UF, speaks on the long-term effects of alcohol use disorder on neurocognition.
“The individual and public health toll from alcohol misuse cannot be overstated,” said Nixon, director of UF’s Center for Addiction Research & Education, or CARE. “It is associated with increased risk of chronic disease, exacerbates mental health disorders and impairs brain function, cognition and interpersonal wellbeing. Not only that, its estimated costs to society are $223.5 billion a year.”
The Research Society on Alcoholism, a foremost professional scientific society focusing on alcohol use and misuse, developed the lecture series to provide the latest information on alcohol’s effects, from molecular to socio-cultural, to both the academic and professional audience and the general community.