The five-year effort funded with more than $7.5 million in federal support through the National Institute on Drug Abuse trains investigators to study substance use among young people.

Six scholars were selected through a national competition. Each project targets a gap in how the treatment system understands or responds to adolescent substance use.

Six Projects Target Youth Substance Use

The six awards cover several areas that could shape how adolescent addiction treatment develops:

  • Peter Jackson, MD (University of Vermont): Research on measuring and designing family-informed communication about parental substance use disorders, mentored by Hugh Garavan, PhD.
  • Sivabalaji Kaliamurthy, MD (Children’s National Hospital): A brief inpatient intervention for adolescents who use cannabis, mentored by Richard Schottenfeld, MD.
  • Amalia Londono Tobón, MD (Georgetown University): A multi-component approach in obstetric practices that aims to increase access to perinatal substance use disorder care for mother-infant dyads, mentored by Nancy Byatt, DO, MS, MBA.
  • Elizabeth Olsen, MD (Brown University): “Our VOICES,” a tailored cannabis use intervention for female adolescents receiving mental health treatment, mentored by Larry K. Brown, MD.
  • Aaron Quiggle, MD, MS (Mass General/Harvard): A controlled trial of delayed- and extended-release methylphenidate for adolescents and young adults with ADHD and cannabis use disorder, mentored by Timothy Wilens, MD.
  • Tara Thompson-Felix, MD (Yale School of Medicine): Research on cannabis use during pregnancy and child neurodevelopment, mentored by Linda Mayes, MD.

Three of the six projects focus on cannabis which reflects how much the adolescent substance use landscape has changed. Many of today’s parents grew up with prevention campaigns focused on very different drugs.

The Research Pipeline Matters

AACAP points to a shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists trained to conduct this type of research. Between 1998 and 2025, the program’s first five cohorts produced 32 scholars, more than 1,100 peer-reviewed publications, over 1,600 scientific presentations and more than 300 grant awards including 77 NIH R-series grants.

Programs like this help determine which questions about teen addiction receive sustained research attention over the next decade.

Families can see the practical questions inside the project list. How can treatment improve conversations when a parent has a substance use disorder? Which cannabis interventions fit into real-world psychiatric care? How should treatment address pregnant and parenting teens? What happens when ADHD and cannabis use occur together?

What the Research Could Mean for Treatment

None of these studies will change admissions criteria next month, but they do point toward several areas that treatment programs may continue to develop.

This includes family-inclusive care, gender-responsive treatment, medication evaluation for co-occurring conditions and substance use treatment that works alongside mental health care.

When you’re evaluating treatment for a teenager those areas can give you useful questions to ask. How does the program involve families? How does it treat co-occurring ADHD, depression, or trauma alongside substance use? What happens after the program ends?

Questions to Ask About Adolescent Rehab

Start by looking at whether the program is designed for adolescents rather than simply accepting younger patients.

Look for adolescent specific programs and ask how they handle co-occurring mental health conditions.

Verify insurance coverage and ask whether the program can coordinate with school or other academic needs during treatment.

Ask what aftercare looks like once the program ends. Ask how the treatment team helps maintain progress.

Rehab.com’s directory includes treatment centers nationwide with adolescent and dual diagnosis programs. Call 800-985-8516 ( Question iconSponsored Helpline ) to speak with a treatment advisor about options for a young person in your life.

Quentin Blount Written By: Quentin Blount Content Director
Quentin brings over a decade of experience in writing, editing, and digital publishing to his role as Content Director at Rehab.com, where he leads a full-scale content operation across addiction treatment, mental health, and behavioral health verticals. He has experience managing large editorial teams, executing content strategy for clients, and building the workflows and systems that keep high-volume publishing operations running efficiently. Quentin is committed to making treatment information accessible, trustworthy, and easy to navigate for people seeking help for themselves or their loved ones. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his wife, friends, family, and dog, Coop.