Resilience Collective Conference “Advancing Health Equity Addiction Research in Challenging Times”
Team
The Resilience Collective is a Mutual Mentoring Team Grant (PI: Carolyn Sartor) funded by the Rutgers University Faculty Diversity Collaborative. The team consists of six accomplished faculty members who conduct substance use research among health disparity populations. At Rutgers University, Dr. Carolyn Sartor (Institute for Health, Healthcare Policy, and Aging Research; Robert Wood Johnson Medical School), Dr. Denise Hien and Dr. Alex Bauer (Center of Alcohol and Substance Use Studies), and Dr. Kristina Jackson (Rutgers Addiction Research Center and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School) contribute extensive expertise. Joining them are Dr. Adriana Espinosa from the Department of Psychology at The City College of New York and Dr. Angela Haeny from the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine.
Background
The present political landscape presents wide-ranging and fast-evolving challenges for health disparities research, including substance use research among racial/ethnic and/or sexual and gender minoritized populations. National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants are the primary source of funding for substance use research and receipt of NIH grants is built into the evaluation process for faculty at all institutions represented in the team. Recent challenges faced by researchers addressing substance use in health disparity populations include: direct threats to current funding, limitations in the populations served by proposed research, and uncertainty about funding for new proposals within the fundable range or renewal of ongoing multi-year projects. These new challenges are compounded by inherent difficulties in conducting substance use research among populations disproportionately impacted by social determinants of health. These populations often face barriers such as stigma surrounding problematic substance use and treatment seeking, as well as obstacles related to physical access to care and research engagement.
Goals of the project
The need for problem-solving, creative thinking, and support in advancing health disparities research has never been greater. The goal of this project is to move substance use research with health disparity populations forward in the current sociopolitical environment by pursuing the following objectives: (1) Creating a collaborative space for sharing resources and developing innovative solutions, such as repurposing protocols, identifying non-federal sources of funding, and identifying strategies for continuing to support staff paid from federal grants; (2) Establishing dedicated time for collaboration, allowing team members and their trainees to share works in progress or new grant ideas. These efforts will expand collaborations, enhance research through diverse perspectives, and increase productivity; and (3) Hosting a half-day conference at Rutgers focused on substance use research in health disparity populations, further promoting efforts highlighted above.
Conference Information
Conference Name: Advancing Health Equity Addiction Research in Challenging Times
Keynote speaker: Sarah Pedersen, Ph.D.
Keynote title: For the Communities Counting on Us: Addiction Research Moves Forward
Sarah Pedersen, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Pedersen is a licensed clinical psychologist with a long-standing interest in providing mental health care to individuals with minoritized identities and examining social and structural drivers of inequities in substance use related problems. She is currently the principal investigator on two 5-year R01 research grants from the National Institutes of Health. In these projects, she has integrated stress exposure, discrimination, personality characteristics, environmental contexts, and cognitions to identify when and why people are at risk for alcohol and substance use-related problems. Dr. Pedersen is the Director of Research for Community-engagement and Partnership and the Research Equity and Community Health Collaborative within the Department of Psychiatry. In these roles, she and colleagues are committed to returning research back to communities, growing and sustaining community partnerships to conduct high impact research, and training future scientists in equitable and just research design.
Date and Time: Friday, May 22, 2026: 11:00am-3:30pm
Location:
Rutgers University
Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research
112 Paterson Street
New Brunswick, NJ
Price: FREE
Registration link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdgF9k6IpCdobhtO5Ful-iXSBSKe7tHobLiLraE6VNXm5f04g/viewform
Deadline for registration: April 15, 2026.
Lunch will be provided to attendees who register by the deadline.
Abstract submission link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeTYAB-RVjhVxNFdwWBB01OTr-_2noCr_YUgBOZA2uShFDbCw/viewform?pli=1
Students and early stage investigators can apply for data blitz (5-minute oral presentaion)
Deadline for abstract submission: Monday, March 2, 2026.
Students and early-stage investigators may apply for travel awards.
Travel information (more details to come)
Nearest airport: Newark (25 miles)
By train: New Jersey Transit New Brunswick stop (2 block walk)
Parking:
– Paterson Street Deck (0.2 mile)
– Wellness Plaza Garage (0.2 mile)
Hotels within walking distance:
The Heldrich Hotel (0.3 mile)
Hyatt Regency New Brunswick (0.4 mile)
For more information on the Resilience Collective or the conference, contact Carolyn Sartor at csartor@ifh.rutgers.edu.