UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction (CSUA) will host its third annual conference, “Community Approaches to Substance Use and Addiction,” on Monday, May 2, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. via Zoom. 

The annual conference of the CSUA brings together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, funders, and community leaders to focus on community-engaged solutions to problems of substance use.  

Opportunities to leverage evidence-based solutions in the areas of prevention, recovery, treatment, and stigma will be discussed by a series of panels with a moderator. Sessions on each of these areas are designed to stimulate impactful collaborations between individuals, families, and communities across the Commonwealth and beyond. The full agenda for the event is available here. 

This year's Keynote Speakers includes:  

• Magdelena Cerdá, director, New York University Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy, NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Magdalena Cerdá is a professor and director of the Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy in the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. She obtained her doctorate from the Harvard University School of Public Health in 2006 and is a former Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar. Her research focuses on the effects that state and national drug and health policies have on substance abuse trends, and on the ways the urban context shapes violence.  

• Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania attorney general. Shapiro represents victims of crime and abuse, defends individual rights, and holds the most powerful interests accountable to the law when they harm Pennsylvanians. Prior to becoming the Pennsylvania attorney general, he served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and as chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners. He attended the University of Rochester and received a bachelor of arts in political science in 1995 before earning his juris doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 2002. 

• Jennifer Selber, Pennsylvania Executive Deputy Attorney General. Selber is a career prosecutor with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and is the executive deputy attorney general in charge of the criminal division. As head of the division, Selber oversees 436 employees and an array of law enforcement actions, including the attorney general’s efforts to combat the heroin and opioid crisis in Pennsylvania. 

Paul Griffin, CSUA’s executive director and professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering, encouraged all to register for this free event. 

“This year’s conference is an opportunity to join a discussion focused on community solutions,” Griffin said. “Anyone who shares our vision for a brighter world, who wants to work to solve the complex problems of substance use and addiction, is welcome.”  

The CSUA housed in the Social Science Research Institute, draws on the expertise of researchers, educators, and practitioners from across Penn State to develop and implement effective programs, policies and practices aimed at preventing and treating addiction and its spillover effects on children, families, and communities. 

Please note that this event is completely virtual and will be held over Zoom. Participants must register in order to attend.