The Center of Alcohol & Substance Use Studies (CAS) Research Poster Session offers a platform to present a poster on innovative research that advances understanding of alcohol, drugs, addictions, and recovery. This event fosters interdisciplinary exchange, highlights emerging science, and supports professional growth across several substance use research domains.

Topics
Public Health/Epidemiology
Animal and Basic Science Research
Clinical Research (Qualitative or Quantitative)
Human Experimental Research
Community Engagement
Data Science & Artificial Intelligence

Important Dates and Times
Abstract Submissions: Closed
Abstract Submission Deadline: March 9, 2026
Notice of Acceptance: March 20, 2026
Poster Setup: April 29, 2026, 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
Keynote Speaker: April 29, 2026, 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Poster Session: April 29, 2026, 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Awards Lunch: April 29, 2026, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Outstanding posters will receive monetary awards recognizing excellence in research rigor, significance/impact, and presentation.

The Center of Alcohol and Substance Use Studies 11th Annual Scholar Poster Session is proud to host Dr. David Lydon-Staley, Associate Professor of Communication, University of Pennsylvania as a keynote speaker!

Rethinking Curiosity in Substance Use: Data-Driven Insights from Dynamic Systems and Intensive Longitudinal Research

Curiosity plays a complex role in substance use as it can contribute to initiation, but it also offers a powerful avenue for intervention. This presentation explores research examining curiosity as a motivational process that can be deliberately engaged through health communication to promote behavior change, with applications to tobacco and alcohol use. Evidence shows that curiosity-eliciting messages reliably enhance attention to and recall of substance-related health information among adolescents and U.S. priority populations. Research on persistence dynamics demonstrates how tightly coupled symptom systems during tobacco withdrawal can sustain discomfort and undermine cessation efforts. Bridging these perspectives, curiosity emerges as a modifiable lever for disrupting maladaptive persistence. Daily-life interventions that incorporate brief psychological distance reminders designed to foster curiosity during alcohol encounters are associated with reductions in alcohol consumption frequency. These findings highlight curiosity not only as a potential risk factor but also as a motivational mechanism with practical implications for health communication, addiction science, and intervention design.

Seminar Takeaways:

• Understanding curiosity as a driver of attention, recall, and behavior
  change
• Insights on leveraging curiosity to support substance use
  interventions
• Applications for health messaging and intervention strategies across
  diverse populations

Questions? Contact Alyssa Juntilla (alyssa.juntilla@rutgers.edu)