School of Social Work News

Cristina Bares, Ph.D. at Virginia Commonwealth University was recently awarded a  Mentored Research Scientist Development Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for research on "Genetic Contributions to Smoking and Internalizing Problems in Adolescence".  The five year award includes training and research on quantitative genetics, genetic epidemiology, and molecular genetics to uncover the genetic-mediated risk factors that lead to problems of anxiety and depression and substance use in adolescence while controlling for an important environmental risk factor to substance use in this age group - peers.  The award extends Dr. Bares’ work on the longitudinal development of cigarette use in adolescents by examining how the shared heritability of these behaviors change over a vulnerable development period, by incorporating molecular genetic techniques to assess which genes are responsible for the onset and establishment of problems in adolescence, and when they become important, and by examining how genes interact when adolescents’ peers act as an environmental risk factor. National and international secondary sources of phenotypic and genotypic data will be used during the award as well as a primary data source which will involve ecological momentary assessment of adolescent twins. 
Prior to joining the faculty at the Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Social Work, Cristina received her doctorate from the Joint Program in Social work and Social Science (affiliated with Developmental Psychology) at University of Michigan where she focused on cognitive development and its implication for social work practice. She subsequently completed work on adolescent substance use and it was there that she began integrating mental health and substance use as a postdoctoral research fellow at the UM SSW Curtis Center.  Professor Jorge Delva served as Cristina's postdoctoral research fellow mentor.  As she transitioned to her faculty position, Dr. Bares became a fellow in the NIDA-funded Early Stage Career Mentoring Program for NIDA Research organized by the National Hispanic Science Network and co-directed by Drs. James Anthony (Michigan State University), Felipe Gonzalez-Castro (University of Texas at El paso, and Hilda Pantin (University of Miami).  As part of the career development award, Dr. Bares will work closely with Drs. Kenneth Kendler, Hermine Maes, Todd Webb (VCU) and Robert Miranda (Brown University).