Joint Meeting on Youth Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery - Project Summary- Abstract Adolescent and emerging adult (youth) substance use disorders present a major public health problem in the United States and result in a variety of negative consequences when left unresolved, including early mortality. Despite these harms, there is a lack of strong prevention programming, a shortage of developmentally- appropriate and accessible treatment for youth, and inadequate community supports and recovery programming. We need collaborative urgency, action, and innovation across disciplines and key stakeholders to address the current substance use crisis in our nation. This proposal seeks funding to support our annual Joint Meeting on Youth Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery (JMYPTR). JMYPTR serves as a platform for all key stakeholders including, researchers, trainees, practitioners, policymakers, and youth and their families. JMYPTR provides a forum to gather, learn, and share information about evidence-based and innovative practices and research for the prevention of substance use as well as to address questions related to enhancing treatment and recovery support services’ attractiveness and effectiveness for youth affected by substances. Through JMYPTR we seek to closely connect research, clinical interventions, and policy at the state, regional, and national levels by bringing all these key stakeholders together in one meeting. Despite the relatively recent launch of JMYPTR in 2024, there is a strong history behind the meeting as it builds on the foundation of the Joint Meeting on Adolescent Treatment Effectiveness (JMATE), which ran from 2005-2012. Our National Center on Youth Prevention, Treatment and Recovery (NCYPTR) at the Massachusetts General Hospital Recovery Research Institute, in collaboration with numerous federal, state, and national organization partners, has revamped efforts to address the public health imperative of confronting youth AOD use by hosting the annual JMYPTR. Our 2026 JMYPTR and our plans for future conference years aligns with the NIDA priorities outlined in the 2022-2026 Strategic Plan by focusing on several key aspects of research and practice. JMYPTR’s emphasis on advancing the training of the next generation of scientists as a cross-cutting NIDA priority is also at the forefront of our planning. This is represented in this R13 request for travel awards to support early career scholars, including high school students. We anticipate that the new networks and sharing of information built through this conference will help stimulate and produce a new generation of enthusiastic youth-focused substance use investigators and lead to significant and innovative research proposals in the years to come.
