Degrees:
BS: University of Minnesota, 2003
MPH: University of Minnesota, 2006
PhD: University of Minnesota, 2012
Fellowship: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Prenatal Smoking, 2006-2007
Interests:
Addiction
Substance misuse
Substance use disorders
Health behavior change
Sleep
Stress
Pregnancy
Postpartum
Ovarian hormones
Hormonal contraceptives
Women's health
Research methodology
Epidemiology
Academic / Professional Bio:
Alicia Allen, PhD, MPH, began working in clinical research on substance use disorders in 2001 as an undergraduate student. This experience prompted her to obtain her masters in community health education, graduate certification in addiction studies and doctorate in social and behavioral epidemiology, all from the University of Minnesota. She also completed a fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the area of prenatal smoking. As an behavioral epidemiologist, she is particularly interested in research study design and evaluating causality. She has conducted randomized clinical trials, controlled cross-over trials, and cross-sectional online surveys, as well as analyzed data from large epidemiological datasets. Dr. Allen's current research focuses on topics that occur in the intersection between substance misuse (e.g., nicotine/tobacco, cannabis, opioids) and women's health (e.g., pregnancy, postpartum, hormonal contraceptive use). Alicia has received funding from the National Institutes of Health, ClearWay Minnesota, and University of Arizona. She has published 35 manuscripts to-date, primarily with Addictive Behaviors, Nicotine and Tobacco Research, Addiction, and Journal of Addiction Medicine. She is an associate editor with Nicotine Tobacco Research (NTR), the clinical director with Society for Research on Nicotine Tobacco University (SRNT-U), and co-director of the Resident Scholarly Project Program (RSPP). Dr. Allen has also recently served on an expert panel for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Current Projects as Principal Investigator:
Project Phase (MPI: Uma Nair, National Institution on Drug Abuse)
Hormonal Contraception and Menstrual Cycle Variability in Smoking-Related Symptoms (American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant)
Family-Centered Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome Care Program Study (Co-PI: Mo Bader, Banner University Medical Center)
Current Projects as Co-Investigator:
Tobacco Cessation Brief Intervention Training for Behavioral Health (PI: Myra Muramoto, Arizona Biomedical Research Commission)
Advocating Health Equity in Addressing the Opioid Epidemic (PI: Haley Coles, Sonoran Prevention Works, Vitalyst Health Foundation)
Mosaic Program Evaluation (PI: Jessica White, Maricopa County Department of Public Health)
Recent Selected Publications:
Oral Contraceptives and Cigarette Smoking: A Review of the Literature and Future Directions. (2019)
Stressful life events are associated with perinatal cigarette smoking. (2019)
Web-Delivered Multimedia Training Materials for the Self-Collection of Dried Blood Spots: A Formative Project (2018).
Postpartum Changes in Mood and Smoking-Related Symptomatology: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Investigation.(2018).
High-intensity Interval Training and Continuous Aerobic Exercise Interventions to Promote Self-initiated Quit Attempts in Young Adults Who Smoke: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Lessons Learned From a Randomized Pilot Trial. (2018).
Hormonal contraceptive use in smokers: Prevalence of use and associations with smoking motives. (2017)
Effect of brief exercise on urges to smoke in men and women smokers. (2017)
Honors and Awards:
Women & Gender Junior Investigator Award, College of Problems on Drug Dependence and National Institute of Drug Abuse, 2009
Dean’s PhD Scholar Award, University of Minnesota, 2012
Outstanding Junior Mentor Award, Clinical and Translational Science Institute at University of Minnesota, 2014