John Clapp Joins National Substance Abuse Advisory Council
The alumnus and faculty member will advise on federal research, policy and funding priorities.
John Donovan Clapp, professor of social work and SDSU alumnus, will begin a three-year term on the National Advisory Council of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.
The center is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Advising at the federal level
Clapp, ’87, ’91, has earned a national reputation for his research on alcohol and drug abuse prevention among college students. As a council member, he will advise HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on research, policy and funding priorities regarding alcohol and other substance abuse treatment across the United States.
For the last 18 months, Clapp has been director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Center for Alcohol, Other Drug and Violence Prevention, providing guidance for colleges and universities.
John Clapp's work is one of many ways SDSU faculty are leading innovation and discovery, a key initiative of The Campaign for SDSU. With a unique focus on the teacher-scholar model, SDSU attracts researchers interested in solving the world’s most pressing problems, while showing students how to provide future solutions. Learn more about how SDSU leads innovation and technology, and how you can help.
SDSU role
At SDSU, he is director of the Center for Alcohol and Drug Studies and associate director of research in the Department of Social Work. He is also an adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Public Health.
Clapp has been awarded more than $16 million in research and evaluation grants and contracts from the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (part of the National Institutes for Health), the California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control, the U.S. Department of Education and other agencies.
Current research
Together with Susan Woodruff, Ph.D., also an SDSU social work professor, Clapp received an NIH challenge grant to examine drug abuse prevention for Latinos in hospital emergency rooms.
He is currently partnering with University of California San Diego researchers on a grant to prevent fetal alcohol syndrome among Native Americans through health clinic-based Internet intervention.
Clapp has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in social work from SDSU.
