Ryan Lindsay Selected for NIAAA Fellowship

Assistant Dean for Social Work and Associate Professor of Practice Ryan Lindsay was selected for a National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Fellowship.

This summer, he attended an immersion training at Boston University to advance integration of alcohol and drug identification and treatment methods into the Master of Social Work clinical practice curriculum.

“Substance use and substance use disorders impact social work at every level,” said Lindsay, who also serves as the Brown School Mental Health Concentration Chair. “With the current opioid crises leading to 50,000 deaths a year, we need social workers up to date on the latest research, understanding and interventions at the individual, community and policy levels to combat its effects on our communities.”

This program, he commented, is a critical model for ensuring that our schools of social work are prepared to launch our next generation of practitioners who understand the impact substances have on families and our communities.

“Stigma is a big part of this problem, and schools of social work need to do more to eradicate opinions that leave people struggling with addiction without hope,” he said. “This program helps to ensure that we can continue to build the best curriculum to prepare our students for this important work.”