Welcome to the Advancing Substance Use and Addiction Research Group or ASA. We are devoted to advancing health behavior and structural intervention research in the field of substance use (e.g., nicotine, cannabis, & opioids) and mental health. This research group was established in 2006 as TobWell and renamed as the current name later. It is housed at Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington.
We are researchers who aim to advance health behavior research in the field of substance use, such as e-cigarettes, marijuana, alcohol, and opioids, and their comorbid mental health problems. Among others, the high prevalence of nicotine and marijuana vaping especially in U.S. youth is alarming because it can renormalize tobacco use behavior, make youth addicted to nicotine or cannabis who otherwise might not consume such substance, and serve as a catalyst to using other substances. Equally alarming is that more youth are reporting mental health problems than before. If you are interested in joining us or collaborating with us on the research endeavors to prevent or reduce substance use and mental health problems in youth, please feel free to contact us.