Dr. Ahuja Selected for Visiting Mentor Development Program

Dr. Manik Ahuja, Assistant Professor in the East Tennessee State University College of Public Health’s Department of Health Services Management and Policy applied and was accepted into New York University's Substance Abuse Research Education and Training (SARET) Visiting Mentor Development Program. He will spend a week this summer at New York University receiving training to become a SARET mentor at ETSU. 

SARET is a National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded Substance Abuse Research Education and Training program that trains future physicians, nurses, dentists, social workers, and public health professionals in substance use disorder research.  The Visiting Mentor Development Program offers faculty the opportunity to receive ongoing technical assistance and guidance, tailored to their institutional context, to help them develop substance use disorder research training programs at their schools/institutions. 

“Our community is overburdened with the adverse consequences of opioid-related and related mental health disorders,” stated Dr. Ahuja.  “There is a large need for multiple disciplines including pharmacy, medicine, nursing, and public health to alleviate this burden in the region.”

The SARET program fosters health professions students’ lasting engagement in substance use disorder research.  An interdisciplinary initiative, SARET uses a modular web-based curriculum and mentored research placements to activate the interest of students in schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, social work, and public health (including at the doctoral and masters levels) in substance use disorder-related research careers. 

“I hope to contribute significantly to ETSU Health’s existing interdisciplinary approach to substance use disorders,” Dr. Ahuja continued, “My hope is the experience I gain from this program will benefit not only the department and college, but also the region that ETSU Health serves.”