Henry Wechsler, Ph.D., a social psychologist, has had a
long-term commitment to research on alcohol and drug abuse among young people
and the evaluation of policies and programs to reduce the harms produced by
these high-risk behaviors. He is Lecturer in the Department of Society, Human
Development and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Dr Wechsler was the principal investigator of the Harvard School of Public
Health College Alcohol Study (CAS) funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Since its inception in 1992, the CAS has conducted four national surveys at
a representative sample of over 50,000 students at 120 colleges in 40 states.
The study has resulted in over 80 publications in peer-reviewed journals and
focused national attention on the widespread pattern of college binge drinking
and the harms produced for both drinkers and others on campus.
Dr. Wechsler was also the principal investigator of the study evaluating
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's ÒA Matter of DegreeÓ program designed
to support the development of model approaches for reducing high-risk drinking
on ten college campuses and in their surrounding communities. This evaluation
found that an environmentally-based comprehensive intervention utilizing a
college and community coalition can effect reductions in alcohol consumption
and the harms associated with binge drinking.
In addition to alcohol, Dr. Wechsler studied tobacco and illicit drug use.
He has taught courses on alcohol use and abuse and high-risk behaviors. Dr.
Wechsler is the author of 18 books and monographs and more than 200 articles
in professional journals on alcohol abuse and other high-risk behaviors. He
is author of Dying to Drink based on his work at the CAS and his
views of the national scene. He is the recipient of the American Public Health
Association's Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs section's College-Based Leadership
Award and the American College Health Association's Clifford B. Reifler Award
Elissa
R. Weitzman, ScD, MSc is Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Harvard Medical
School in the Division of Adolescent Health and the Informatics Program at
Children's Hospital Boston. She is
a collaborating Principal Investigator with the CDC Center of Excellence in
Public Health Informatics at Harvard where she is developing work on the
acceptability, use and impacts of survey-enabled personal health record systems.
For the past decade she has led national studies of youth health risk behaviors
and used them to inform comprehensive community prevention initiatives and
their evaluation under grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the
National Institute of Drug Abuse. She has also collaborated on national
evaluations of health services demonstration efforts on improving cancer
screening, integration of primary care and substance abuse services to address
HIV/AIDS risk behaviors, use of emergency services for heart attacks,
integration of public health and community corrections systems to support
tuberculosis care. Dr. Weitzman holds a Doctorate in Health and Social Behavior
and Psychiatric Epidemiology and a Masters in Health Policy and Management from
Harvard University and a Bachelors of Science in Psychology from Brandeis
University. She is a former Fellow in Medical Ethics at HMS and was the Norman
E. Zinberg Faculty Fellow for Public Health in Psychiatry, also at HMS.
Toben F. Nelson, Sc.D is Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University
of Minnesota School of Public Health and is a faculty member with the
Alcohol Epidemiology Program at the University of Minnesota.Dr. Nelson is a social epidemiologist
whose research focuses on how social conditions and policy shape health and
health behaviors during developmental transitions.Prior to moving to the University of Minnesota,
Dr. Nelson was a Research Associate at the Harvard Prevention Research Center
and Assistant Director of Program Evaluation for the College Alcohol Study
at Harvard School of Public Health.>He holds a Doctorate in Public Health from Harvard University,
a Master of Science degree in Kinesiology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
and Bachelors of Arts in Psychology and Physical Education from Hamline University.
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