A joint doctoral program in interdisciplinary research on substance use has been launched by the division of global public health in the UCSD School of Medicine and San Diego State University’s School of Social Work. The program will emphasize research devoted to studying the use and misuse of alcohol and drugs and related social and health consequences. “This program is the first of its kind,” said program co-director Steffanie Strathdee, professor and head of the UCSD Global Health Initiative. “Given that substance use has a growing health and societal impact in the U.S. and globally, this program could not come at a better time.” The program will focus on research designed to identify and assess substance use risk and create intervention programs for preventing or modifying high?risk behaviors related to substance use. It will include training to craft and evaluate disease prevention and health promotion recommendations and help guide public health policies. María Luisa Zúñiga, program co-director and associate professor in SDSU’s School of Social Work, said, “SDSU and UC San Diego have a long history of co-jointly offering cutting edge, high-demand programs. This new doctoral program is designed to train the next generation of researchers to lead interdisciplinary research efforts that will meaningfully address substance use issues of national and global impact. Our graduates will be highly sought after in fields including medicine, social work and public health as well as research firms and governmental health departments.” The new JDP is the 14th such program offered by SDSU and UCSD. Others include highly acclaimed programs in public health and clinical psychology.  Funding from SDSU division of academic affairs and College of Health and Human Services will cover tuition fees and a teaching associate stipend for four students per year for up to four years. Students will spend the first year of study at SDSU, the second at UCSD and subsequent years working with faculty from both campuses.