Dr. Duncan Clark, director of the Pittsburgh Adolescent
Alcohol Research Center, will speak at the upcoming Youth Connect town hall meeting
on Saturday, April 27, in the Quaker Valley Middle School auditorium. Entitled, “It’s No Big Deal… Right?”, the
focus of the meeting will be the scope, nature, and problems associated with
adolescent use of alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs, and what parents can do
about it issue.
A nationally recognized expert, Clark will discuss his 20+
years of clinical research studying the causes and consequences of
alcohol substance use disorders in adolescents, including the impact on brain
development. An associate professor of
psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, Clark also holds a Ph.D. in
psychology from UCLA, along with an M.D. from Harvard; he did a residency in
psychiatry at Stanford. His work has
been recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, the American College
of Psychiatrists, and the American Psychological Association, among others.
Clark’s work includes a study published in 2000 that
examines brain characteristics in adolescents with alcohol use disorders, using
neuro-imaging techniques. He is currently partnering with the National
Institutes of Health and scholars from the University of Pittsburgh, as well as
four other research institutions on the most definitive project to date
studying the effects of alcohol and other drugs on teen brain development.
Also participating in the morning event are: Jeff Bennett,
of Bell Acres, who will share the story of his daughter’s struggle with
substance abuse; Debbie Kehoe, executive director of The Alliance Against Drugs,
who will screen Listen II, an
Alliance documentary that features Bennett, among others; as well as local high
school students, who will wrap up the presentation with a frank discussion of
what parents can do to help their children avoid the lure of drugs and alcohol.
The event is free and open to the public; parents of
children in grades 4 though 9 are especially encouraged to attend. For more information on the town hall
meeting, email youthconnect@hotmail.com.
Youth Connect is a group of
concerned adults and students from schools and organizations in the Sewickley
area working to provide the information, resources, and support our young
people need to avoid risky behavior and enjoy their teen years.
For more information please
contact youthconnect@hotmail.com.
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