BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Kenneth Leonard, PhD, director of the
University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions, will be
recognized for his outstanding scientific contributions with a
national award from the American Psychological Association’s
Society of Addiction Psychology (SoAP).
Leonard will receive the Distinguished Scientific Contributions
award at the 2015 annual APA conference in August. The award
recognizes a SoAP member who has made distinguished theoretical or
empirical contributions to research in the addictions field.
Kim Fromme, PhD, professor of clinical psychology at the
University of Texas at Austin and former president of SoAP,
nominated Leonard for the award.
“Dr. Leonard is richly deserving of this prestigious
award,” Fromme says. “His sustained program of research
has garnered international recognition and expanded our
understanding of the processes through which substance abuse
affects family relationships.”
Leonard joined RIA in 1986 as a research scientist and was named
director in 2011. He also serves as a research professor in the UB
School of Medicine and Biomedical Science’s Department of
Psychiatry. His research focuses on the effects of alcohol and
substance abuse on marital and family processes, including intimate
partner violence and interpersonal violence.
“We are delighted that Ken Leonard is receiving the
recognition he so richly deserves for his past and ongoing research
contributions to the addictions field,” says Venu
Govindaraju, PhD, interim vice president for research and economic
development at UB.
Steven L. Dubovsky, MD, chair of UB’s Department of
Psychiatry, calls Leonard “the quintessential scientist and
academician.”
“Not only have his contributions to our understanding of
the interaction of violence and substance use changed practice
worldwide, but his research has extended to areas of knowledge
ranging from treatment outcomes to diagnostic issues to metabolic
changes in psychiatric illness,” Dubovsky says. “These
outstanding accomplishments are matched only by his mentoring of
generations of investigators and clinician-scientists in psychology
and psychiatry.”
A member of APA, Leonard is a fellow and served as president of
SoAP. He also is a fellow of APA’s Division of
Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse. Leonard holds memberships
in the Research Society on Alcoholism, Association for the
Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Society of Psychologists in
Addictive Behavior and International Society for Research on
Aggression.
He currently serves on the editorial board of the Journal of
Studies on Alcohol and Drugs and has previously held editorial
positions for Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research and
the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. His research findings have
appeared in Addiction, Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment,
Journal of Clinical Child and Adult Psychology, Journal of Marriage
and the Family and Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, among
numerous others.
Leonard has received more than $36 million in funding as a grant
investigator or co-investigator from the National Institutes of
Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and
National Institute on Drug Abuse, for studies on alcohol and
marital aggression, effects of alcohol on parenting and infant
development, spouse involvement in alcohol treatment and bar
violence.
RIA is a research center of the University at Buffalo and a
national leader in the study of alcohol and substance abuse issues.
RIA’s research programs, most of which have multiple-year
funding, are supported by federal, state and private foundation
grants. Located on UB’s Downtown Campus, RIA is a member of
the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and a key contributor to
UB’s reputation for research excellence. To learn more, visit
buffalo.edu/ria.