Brazilian Scientist Named ISAJE/WHO Young Scholar

Gabriel Andreuccetti, a Ph.D. candidate in epidemiology at the University of São Paolo Medical School, Brazil, has received the 2011 International Society of Addiction Journal Editors (ISAJE)/World Health Organization Young Scholars Award.

He received the award for his paper, “Reducing the Legal Blood Alcohol Concentration Limit for Driving in Developing Countries: A Time for Change? Results and Implications Derived From a Time-Series Analysis (2001–10) conducted in Brazil,” published in the December 2011 issue of Addiction. In Brazil, a new law introduced in 2008 lowered the blood alcohol concentration limit for drivers from 0.06 to 0.02. Mr. Andreuccetti sought to determine whether the new limit had an impact on the prevalence of traffic accidents. Using autoregressive integrated moving averages, he analyzed nonfatal and fatal road accidents from January 2001 through June 2010. Based on his findings, the region had significant reductions in traffic injury and fatality rates after the new law was enacted.

The runner-up for the award was Hui Cheng, a research associate at the Institute of Mental Health, Peking University, China, for her paper “Harsh Physical Punishment as a Specific Childhood Adversity Linked to Adult Drinking Consequences: Evidence From China,” also published in Addiction, in 2010.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2012 award. To be eligible, the paper must have been published either online or in print form in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal between July 1, 2009, and June 30, 2012. The research reported should have been carried out predominantly in a low- or middle- income country, as specified by the World Bank classification. The deadline for receiving applications is July 31, 2012. For more details, including the full eligibility criteria and application procedure, visit the NIDA International Program’s page on the ISAJE/WHO Young Scholars Award or contact the ISAJE Executive Officer, Molly Jarvis, at molly@addictionjournal.org.