Professor Greg Stuart’s research has a particular emphasis on the role of substance use and abuse in intimate partner violence. His goal for his lab is to create a more peaceful world with healthier relationships by tackling the prevalence of physical, psychological, sexual, and cyber aggression, as well as substance abuse.
Department of Psychology
Psychologist Looks at How We Find Common Ground
When the fall semester begins, Garriy Shteynberg, associate professor of psychology, will lead a three-year study to examine how Americans’ social and political attitudes have grown more extreme over the past 20 years.
The project was awarded a $351,339 grant from the National Science Foundation in May and is expected to conclude in 2021.
The research is a collaboration among scientists who hold divergent views about how attitudes grow more extreme. In all, the research team will work together on 12 experiments—discussing every aspect of the study design, execution, and analysis with the goal of reaching a joint understanding of the results.
Read more about the study at news.utk.edu.
Breathing Problems Linked to Drug that Treats Opioid Addiction
A drug used to treat opioid addiction could cause breathing problems in some obese patients, according to a new study from UT scientists.
Buprenorphine is a Schedule III drug with a lower abuse potential than methadone. It is one of three drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to help patients undergoing treatment for opioid abuse. The UT study found that the drug impairs the ability of obese mice to vary their breathing. These findings in mice may encourage similar studies in humans, since the ability to vary breathing helps us achieve tasks such as climbing stairs and respond to challenges such as disease and surgical stress.
The discovery of the drug’s previously unknown side effect could help clinicians improve patient care, said the study’s lead author, Ralph Lydic, Robert H. Cole Endowed Professor of Neuroscience in the UT Department of Psychology and the Department of Anesthesiology at UT Medical Center.
Continue reading about the study at news.utk.edu.
Three Undergraduates Win Prestigious Goldwater Scholarships
UT undergraduates Kimberly Bress, Christopher Neal, and Andrew Wintenberg have been named 2017–18 Goldwater Scholars.
One of the most prestigious scholarship programs for undergraduates, the Goldwater Scholarship Program was established by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry M. Goldwater. It was designed to encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering.
Since 2006, UT has had 17 students named Goldwater Scholars.
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Recognitions, February 10
Please send faculty, staff, and student recognitions to Erin Chapin (erin.chapin@utk.edu).
- The UT Legal Clinic began its 70th year with the swearing in of new student attorneys.
- Susanne S. Masters, a 1989 graduate of the School of Advertising and Public Relations, has established the DeForrest Jackson Endowed Professorship with a gift of $500,000.