Rhode Island Medical Journal The Rhode Island Medical Society is the professional association of Rhode Island doctors in all medical specialties. The Society is dedicated to the improvement of the public health and the advancement of the profession of medicine through education, advocacy and member services. Members of the Rhode Island Medical Society include medical doctors, osteopathic physicians, physician assistants and medical students.

The April 2026 issue of the Rhode Island Medical Journal is a special section on @brownpublichealth.bsky.social & features several CAAS highlights:

➡️ Our Director @chriskahlerphd.bsky.social on 40 years of addiction research.

➡️ A collaborative study on Chronic Steatotic Liver Disease.

Read more!

Lab Technician Wendy Hernandez (left) and Project Coordinator Brian Gully (right) smile at the camera while seated at a table.

Assistant Professor of Epidemiology Alex Macmadu stands smiling at a colleague while holding an award certificate folder.

We were thrilled to see so much CAAS representation at this year's SPH Dean’s Awards! Congrats to Wendy Hernandez (Excellence in Innovation), Brian Gully (Excellence in Leadership), and Alex Macmadu (Excellence in Community Engagement)! CAAS is lucky to have you! 🎉👏

CAAS Director @chriskahlerphd.bsky.social recently spent the day on the Hill meeting with Senate Appropriations Committee staff. As VP of the RSA, Dr. Kahler is championing continued federal funding for alcohol research. Science needs defending—proud to see CAAS leading the way. 🧪🏛️

Dr. Hayley Treloar Padovano speaks on WPRI 12 News.

Catch Dr. Hayley Treloar Padovano on WPRI 12 News discussing a new liver health study! 🩺

The CAAS-led pilot found that community clinic screenings identified liver damage in patients who didn't even know they were at risk.

Watch the full interview on WPRI here. www.wpri.com/news/local-n...

GLP-1 drugs linked to lower addiction rates in large study of veterans The treatments appeared to help prevent a wide range of substance use disorders and reduce serious harms from existing ones

CAAS Associate Professor Carolina Haass-Koffler provided insight for this recent Science article on why GLP-1 drugs might be effective in treating substance use disorders, noting that addiction often involves metabolic issues and inflammation, which GLP-1s help address.

Join us for CAAS Rounds today in SPH 245!

Research staff member Christy Zhao points to her academic poster and discusses the contents with someone observing the poster.

Celebrating our 3rd annual Staff Research Day! 🎉

On Friday, the Center for Alcohol & Addiction Studies (CAAS) hosted this signature event, giving staff and student employees a platform to present their work and shine. Thank you to our amazing staff for all that you do for #science & for CAAS.

Congratulations to this incredible team! This work that can have real impact on public health. This is how science serves. Document a harm and then use the best evidence available to design approaches to reduce that harm. Proud to see this work @browncaas.bsky.social @brownpublichealth.bsky.social

'Saving Lives': Bill Would Fund Psychedelic Therapies for Military Veterans The VA is catching up on new treatments since psychedelic-assisted therapy started taking place in the 1960s.

A new bill could expand veteran access to MDMA-assisted therapy, thanks in part to the groundbreaking research on MDMA for PTSD and alcohol use by CAAS faculty Erica Eaton, Christy Capone, & Carolina Haass-Koffler -- also the first VA-funded study for psychedelic-assisted therapy since the 1960s.

Can Cannabis Really Help You Drink Less? Here’s What New Research Shows Scientists at Brown University investigated what happens when heavy drinkers smoke THC before being offered alcohol. The results were striking: participants drank less and experienced fewer cravings d...

As wellness conversations broaden beyond abstinence, @foodandwine.com amplifies new research from CAAS Professor Jane Metrik @janemetrik.bsky.social on cannabis through a harm-reduction lens and what it could mean for moderating alcohol consumption.

Excited to share our newest publication. Here we test a central hypothesis in cannabis use, does use alter a person's emotions in a theoretically expected way, and if so for whom and under what conditions is that observable. We found that cannabis use was linked to complex changes in emotions.

Why Does Drinking Mess With My Emotions?

Alcohol can make you feel anxious or irritable the next day. CAAS Associate Professor Hayley Treloar Padovano, Ph.D. discusses with The New York Times what causes this — and how to manage it.

Huge congratulations to Julie Cristello, Postdoctoral Fellow at CAAS, for receiving a 2026 Brown Postdoctoral Excellence Award! 🏆 Well deserved, Julie!
@juliecristello.bsky.social

Cannabis has become more legal. It’s time to update laws around use by pregnant people It’s time to rethink punitive policies around cannabis use by people who are pregnant.

As cannabis moves toward federal rescheduling, pregnant people are being left in a vulnerable position. CAAS Assistant Professor Lauren Micalizzi, Ph.D. @laurenmic.bsky.social and Elizabeth Tobin-Tyler, J.D., M.A. co-authored this piece in STAT about the importance of reform.

After trauma of Brown shooting, how do we reclaim our lives? | Opinion After the Brown University shooting, a new approach called 'dignity neuroscience' offers a path to healing by connecting human rights with brain science. Learn how to reclaim agency and belonging.

Professor @dignityneurosci.bsky.social & researcher Roza Spencer apply a "dignity neuroscience" lens to recent events, showing the ways human rights are grounded in brain function. "Disambiguating these violations to intrinsic human dignity may provide a step toward healing," they write.

2nd Annual Recovery and Harm Reduction Film Festival Our aim is to bring together community members to reduce stigma associated with addiction, recovery, and harm reduction through film and art

The 2nd annual ✨Recovery and Harm Reduction Film Festival✨ will bring together @brown.edu and local community members Feb 27 & 28 to reduce stigma around addiction, recovery and harm reduction through film and art.🎥

Learn more at the link! #harmreductionsaveslives

Huge congrats to BSS PhD student Abby Morales on being accepted into the Spring 2026 Graduate Writing Collective at the Sheridan Center!

We can’t wait to see your work flourish, Abby! 👏

CAAS Rounds Alert! 🚨
Join us tomorrow 2/20 in SPH 245 at 12pm to hear Dr. Jackie White Hughto present “Documenting and Disrupting Stimulant and Opioid-related Morbidity and Mortality in the US."

Today! CAAS Rounds will feature Dr. Shufang Sun. 12pm in SPH 245. Hope to see you there!

From Buzz to Burnout: How Alcohol Affects the Brain and Body We explore our relationship with alcohol — why we consume it, how it affects us, and when it’s time to quit.

I enjoyed participating in this @npr.org podcast segment by Andrew Stelzer on California Sober and the study led by @janemetrik.bsky.social at @browncaas.bsky.social, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry: psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/...

whyy.org/episodes/our...

“Any level of drinking has some risk, and it increases with more drinking,” Christopher Kahler, Director of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, previously told USA TODAY.

The Alcohol Alternative Industry Is Exploding. But Are These Products Really Safer? Experts Weigh in From CBD to kratom to nootropics, the active ingredients at the center of this growing industry may lead to serious health consequences.

Professor @janemetrik.bsky.social spoke to the Today Show about trends in alcohol alternatives, including her new study that found #cannabis may reduce alcohol consumption.🍷

How To Drink Less Without Completely Overhauling Your Social Life Gearing up for Dry January? Read this.

CAAS Associate Professor Hayley Treloar Padovano discusses Dry January (and beyond) with Women's Health.

Join us for CAAS Rounds today at 12pm! Dr. Brendan Saloner (he/him) will be presenting research on opioid use disorder treatment.

Rumor has it that there will be donuts 🍩 hope to see you there!

Wonderful to have @mamlung.bsky.social with us today at @browncaas.bsky.social. He shared not only his outstanding work on behavioral economics and addiction but also highlighted the important contributions of students and trainees at all levels. Thank you, Michael!

Why Is My Alcohol Tolerance Declining With Age? Worse hangovers, more headaches -- you're not just imagining it. An aging body handles alcohol differently.

There are several factors, from muscle loss to medication, impacting how our bodies handle alcohol as we age.

The @nytimes.com spoke to @browncaas.bsky.social Professor Mollie Monnig about why hangovers get worse when we get older.🍷

Alcohol researchers will need to take the lead to communicate to the public what the risks of alcohol are, what we know with relatively high certainty and what we don't. People can make decisions on risk informed by science, even when that science is imperfect.
www.usatoday.com/story/life/h...

Is giving up alcohol for January worth it? Here's what a Brown University review shows. - The Boston Globe How much does Dry January boost your health? Does it help you kick drinking for good? Or is it just a respite after a busy holiday season?

A big upside of #DryJanuary?

Professor @sqcolby.bsky.social of @browncaas.bsky.social says that "increasing the ability to refuse drinks is such an important outcome, and probably...leads to people being able to drink less, even after they’re done with Dry January."

As ‘California sober' catches on, study suggests cannabis use reduces short-term alcohol consumption A new study led by researchers at Brown University suggests that while other risks remain, smoking marijuana can temporarily cut down how much people drink.

In 2025, @browncaas.bsky.social researchers investigated the “California sober” trend, which involves ditching alcohol in favor of cannabis. Follow the link to learn the results of the first-ever randomized, placebo-controlled trial to test whether #cannabis use directly changes alcohol consumption.