Navigating Policy Shifts: Advancing and Sustaining Substance Use Research in Social Work

This roundtable will highlight how university administrators, faculty, and graduate students are responding to federal policy changes that impact research careers in substance use and addictive behaviors. Examples include reframing research questions, pursuing intramural funding, seeking foundation support, exploring industry partnerships, and making strategic adjustments to sustain or pursue future federal and state funds. We will also discuss how institutions are factoring the impact of policy changes into promotion and tenure processes. Plus, we will highlight how scholars are staying committed to social work values in their research agendas. We will situate these issues within the broader context of social work research, as colleagues across diverse substantive areas are grappling with policy shifts. The second half of the roundtable will feature a listening session to engage with attendees who have experience and wisdom to contribute.

Dr. Lister, an associate professor at a Northeast public land-grant research university, will discuss external funding changes and sustainability strategies scholars can use for their careers, projects, and public benefit. He will draw on his experiences leading and collaborating on a diversified and sustained portfolio of externally funded projects addressing substance use and addictive behaviors. Attendees will identify ways to adapt their funding approaches and learn about challenges and opportunities within different funding sponsor systems (federal, state, foundation, university).

Dr. Berger, a professor and associate dean at a Midwest public urban research university, will discuss issues related to the promotion and tenure process, which has always had some uncertainty. With recent federal policy changes, even greater uncertainty exists. This is also true for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who support faculty research. Discussions across the country have included adjusting promotion and tenure processes to include personal impact statements, extending tenure clocks, pivoting research trajectories, and pursuing alternative funding sources.

Dr. Pasman, an assistant professor at a Midwest public urban research university, will discuss how she has reconciled the shifting political climate with her personal and professional values while building a participatory research program focused on harm reduction and health disparities among people who use drugs. She will share how her research has been affected; how she has weighed her values when revising her approach; and, as an early career researcher, how she expects her response may affect her research trajectory.

Ms. Lerman, a doctoral student at a Northeast private Jesuit research university, will discuss how she may reframe her research objective to examine factors contributing to racial and ethnic disparities in the use of medications for opioid use disorder. She has devoted much of her studies to this topic, and will share her concern that she may need to pivot in order to secure dissertation funding.

This roundtable unites diverse perspectives across career stages to explore how substance use researchers are navigating policy uncertainty. Together, the presentations will illustrate adaptive strategies scholars are employing while remaining grounded in social work's core values. Attendees will leave with greater understanding of the systemic challenges ahead and actionable ideas to support their own research and academic career sustainability.