Cimini Appointed to National Advisory Council on Substance Abuse Prevention

Dolores Cimini has provided leadership since 1982 on federal, state, and private grant-funded programs addressing high-risk drinking and other prevention issues.

ALBANY, N.Y. (February 9, 2016) – In recognition of her expertise in the fields of substance abuse and mental health counseling, Dolores Cimini, assistant director of the Counseling Center at the University at Albany, has been appointed to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) National Advisory Council.

The appointment, made by Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell, is effective through November 2018.

SAMHSA and CSAP assist states and local communities in the development of science-based prevention programs designed to educate families and youth about rejecting substance abuse, and changing attitudes and norms around substance use and abuse.

The National Advisory Council members support these goals by making recommendations to SAMHSA in their roles as national leaders in their fields and conducting additional tasks such as reviewing recommendations for grants subsequent to first-level peer review.

"Dr. Cimini’s appointment is a testament to her longstanding and deep commitment to the critically important issues of substance abuse and mental health among today’s college student," said University at Albany Vice President for Student Affairs Michael Christakis, Ph.D. "A leader at the vanguard of evidence-based intervention strategies, Dr. Cimini brings tremendous clinical expertise to this very important role."

Dolores Cimini is a New York State licensed psychologist who serves as the assistant director for prevention and program evaluation at UAlbany’s Counseling and Psychological Services and as an adjunct clinical professor in the University's School of Education. She has provided leadership since 1982 on federal, state, and private grant-funded programs.

She has also served as the project director for more than $7 million in federal grants addressing high-risk drinking and other prevention issues. Her grants include the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's Rapid Response to College Drinking Problems program and the SAMHSA Campus-Based Targeted Capacity Enhancement Grant for Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for students seeking health care through the University. The interventions developed from these grants have been listed in SAMHSA’s National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) subsequent to rigorous peer review.

Additionally, Cimini has served as project director for three U.S. Department of Education grant projects, including two Alcohol and Drug Prevention Model Programs Grants. She is the director of the Middle Earth Peer Assistance Program at UAlbany, an agency recognized as an exemplary program in alcohol abuse prevention by both the U.S. Department of Education and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Cimini has served as chair of the American Psychological Association’s Board for the Advancement of Psychology in the Public Interest, which is charged with reviewing and disseminating APA’s practice standards focused on serving diverse and underrepresented groups and the addressing of issues related to psychology and health disparities. She is a Consulting Editor of the Journal of American College Health, and she has published professional articles in both national and international refereed journals in the alcohol, substance abuse, and behavioral health fields.

In 2012, Cimini was recognized by President Barack Obama and the White House for her work in promoting access to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) for women with disabilities. In 2014, she received a Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association for her contributions to professional psychology

“I am honored to have been selected for membership on CSAP’s National Advisory Council,” said Cimini. “During the past several decades, I have witnessed firsthand the power of prevention in promoting the behavioral health of individuals and communities, and I am eager to support CSAP’s critical, life-changing programs and priorities on a national scale.”

For more news, subscribe to UAlbany's RSS headline feeds