Psychology Student Samuel Acuff Wins National Fellowship for Addiction Research

The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has awarded Clinical Psychology doctoral student Samuel Acuff an NIH F31 Predoctoral Fellowship award. The grant will provide Acuff with $70,000 over two years to support his research titled Integration of Electrophysiological and Behavioral Economic Models of Reward Among Heavy Drinking Emerging Adults. This is the fourth NIAAA F31 grant awarded to U of M Clinical Psychology students over the past four years. Dr. James Murphy is the sponsor of this project and his other mentors will be Drs. Frank Andrasik, and Kris Berlin from Psychology, Dr. James MacKillop from McMaster University, and Dr. Bruce Bartholow from the University of Missouri. When asked how the fellowship will impact his future, Acuff said, “The NRSA fellowship will give me dedicated time to pursue research on alcohol misuse, in addition to opportunities to network with prominent scientists who will help provide training in unique domains, such as electroencephalography. The fellowship also represents an achievement that will bolster my chance of success when applying for internships and when on the academic job market.”