Dr. Francesca Filbey, professor of psychology in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences and associate provost for faculty mentoring, has been elected to the board of directors of The College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) — the longest-standing advocacy organization in the U.S. that addresses issues related to drug use and dependence.
“It’s an honor to have been elected to this role by the members of the college,” she said.
The CPDD serves as an interface among governmental, industrial and academic communities, maintaining liaisons with regulatory and research agencies as well as educational, treatment and prevention facilities in the drug-abuse field.
Filbey’s primary research focus is determining the neurobiological mechanisms that drive reward-seeking and motivated behavior. Using addiction as a model, she uses interdisciplinary approaches related to the understanding of reward mechanisms to facilitate prevention and intervention of self-regulatory dysfunction.
Filbey, who holds the Bert Moore Chair in BrainHealth and is director of the Filbey Lab in the Center for BrainHealth, assumed her new CPDD role in June. She said she hopes to help expand the organization’s international outreach.
“As chair of the CPDD’s international committee for the last three years, my priority was to engage international addiction scientists toward the goal of addressing global health disparities related to substance use,” she said. “That’s an area that I’d like for CPDD to continue to be more involved in.”
Institute Experience Helps Shape Rising Leader
Lance Bennett, interim associate director of assessment and accreditation at The University of Texas at Dallas, recently participated in the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education’s Rising Leaders Institute (RLI) as a member of its 2022 cohort.
The RLI, which was first held in 2021, is an intensive, synchronous, virtual professional development program for early-career Black faculty and staff seeking advancement in academia. Bennett works in the Office of Programs, Accreditation, and Assessment and has been at UT Dallas since 2020.
Serenity King PhD’19, associate provost for policy and program coordination and Bennett’s supervisor, encouraged him to apply, and the institute’s review committee approved his participation.
“This program is important for those who want to create positive change in higher education. We are aware of several challenges facing higher education today. I believe that programs such as RLI help professionals begin to address these challenges early in their careers,” Bennett said.
King said UTD has benefited from Bennett’s contributions, which have included streamlining the Comets to the Core program.
“I look forward to us being an environment that fosters and encourages his professional growth for years to come,” she said.
The institute was held June 14-15.
Accolades is an occasional News Center feature that highlights recent accomplishments of The University of Texas at Dallas community. To submit items for consideration, contact your school’s communications manager.