Dessa Bergen-Cico, professor and graduate director in the Department of Public Health in Falk College and coordinator of the Addiction Studies Programs at Syracuse University, was recently interviewed by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for its “Prevention Profiles” podcast series that is focused on campus drug prevention.
In the interview, Bergen-Cico speaks extensively about Syracuse University academics and student life and covers the evolution of her more than 25 years addressing substance use prevention. Watch the podcast on the Prevent Profiles website.
Here’s the description of the interview from the website: “During the interview, Dr. Bergen-Cico discusses how prevention in the higher education space has evolved since the early 1990s, how preventing drug use among college students can transcend being seen solely as a student affairs issue to a broader public health issue, some of the challenges faculty members face when it comes to drug use among college students, and more.”
Bergen-Cico is currently leading a research team that’s exploring how to combine an artificial intelligence system with mindfulness-based practices to help people in treatment for opioid use disorder. She co-developed the International Drug Policy Academy, which is one of several unique opportunities for students to obtain global experience that exposes them to new ways of thinking about substance abuse and addictive behaviors.
Bergen-Cico was recently selected as Falk College’s Honors Core Faculty member by a four-person committee in consultation with Falk Dean Jeremy Jordan and Honors Program Director Danielle Taana Smith.