On May 9 Dr. Duncan Clark will return to Sewickley to talk about his latest research on the impact of drug and alcohol use on the developing teenage brain. The event, sponsored by Youth Connect, runs from 10:00 am to 11:30 am at The Sewickley Presbyterian Church on Beaver and Grant Streets, and is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be generously provided by event co-sponsor HVHS Sewickley Foundation.
Dr. Clark, a psychologist and psychiatrist, presented in May 2013 to the community, providing valuable insight to both parents and students. On May 9, he will provide updates, and will participate in a Q&A with the audience. In addition to Dr. Clark, Quaker Valley Voice will present their pointers for parents. Youth Connect will also premier their first video brief, a new approach to getting information out to the community.
In 2006, Dr. Clark created the Northwest Pennsylvania Adolescent Alcohol Research Cooperative, a collaboration of the University of Pittsburgh campuses in Bradford and Pittsburgh with 40 rural primary care practitioners conducting NIH funded research to apply computer assisted clinical decision support to reduce underage drinking. With support from four NIH institutes in 2012, Dr. Clark, colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh, and scholars from four other research institutions, established the National Consortium on Alcohol & Neurodevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA, www.ncanda.org) and are now initiating the most definitive project to date to determine the effects of alcohol on adolescent brain development. For further information about Dr. Clark: www.psychiatry.pitt.edu/node/9306
QV Voice is a student organization focused on Teens helping Teens. The group aims to promote and support healthy lifestyle choices by focusing on various topics that affect students’ lives. Youth Connect is a community collaborative that has the mission to provide the information, resources, and support needed to give our young people the best chance to enjoy their teen years while avoiding risky behaviors. The goal of Youth Connect is to positively impact the lives of our community youth not by providing separate services, but by leveraging all the resources in the community to work together to address their needs. For more information about Youth Connect or Dr. Clark’s presentation, please contact youthconnect@hotmail.com or visit youthconnectnews@blogspot.com.
