Monitor on Psychology - February 2012 - (Page 19)

In this era of decreased research funding, FDA’s new Center for Tobacco Products has a sizable budget of $85 million for its first year, $235 million for its second, eventually growing to $711 million by its 11th year. smokers who are more likely to smoke menthol cigarettes. The advisory committee will take up the use of dissolvable tobacco products in the coming months. Two more of APA’s nominees for the committee — Robert Balster, PhD, of Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, and Tom Eissenberg, PhD, Virginia Commonwealth University department of psychology — will participate in those deliberations. APA and its members are offering psychology’s expertise to the Center for Tobacco Products in other ways as well. For one, APA partnered with several other organizations in an effort spearheaded by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids to inform FDA’s approach to determining what constitutes “substantial equivalence,” in which a tobacco company tries to avoid the rigors of FDA’s new product review by saying that all of its products should be grandfathered under the claim that they are substantially equivalent to already-approved products. Although ingredient manipulation of tobacco products might not seem directly relevant to psychology, adding ammonia or changing the leaf blend to alter a cigarette’s nicotine yield can make a cigarette more addictive. As a result, both the FDA and the psychological science community have long been interested in the abuse liability of pharmaceuticals and now, with the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, have the opportunity to apply that science to the regulation of tobacco products. The FDA center offers further good news for scientists: In this era of decreased research funding, the center has a budget of $85 million for its first year, $235 million for its second and $450 million for its third, growing eventually to $711 million by its 11th year and beyond. That level of funding will enable FDA to support important new research and help the biomedical and behavioral science community better track the effects of new FDA regulations. One such initiative is a joint venture between the National Institutes of Health and the FDA called the Tobacco Control Act National Longitudinal Study of Tobacco Users. Investigators will follow more than 40,000 users of tobacco products and those at risk for tobacco use age 12 and older. Researchers will explore such factors as what makes people susceptible to tobacco use, what health problems result from its use and what effects regulatory changes have on people’s risk perceptions. n Geoff Mumford, PhD, directs APA’s Office of Science Policy. APA PR AC TI C E O R G ANI ZATI O N COLLEGE OF PROFESSIONAL PSYCHOLOGY Psychopharmacology Examination for Psychologists (PEP) • An examination designed for use by psychology licensing authorities to implement laws permitting the prescribing of psychotropic medications by quali ed psychologists • Secure and con dential banking of PEP scores for quali ed graduates of postdoctoral psychopharmacology educational programs • Psychopharmacology training programs may use the PEP to ful ll exit requirements 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242 Phone: (202) 336-6100 • Fax: (202) 336-5797 E-mail: apapocollege@apa.org Website: apapracticecentral.org F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 2 • M o n i t o r o n 4.5x4.5_APACollege_ad.indd 1 psychology 3/29/11 9:10:57 AM 19 http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm274626.htm http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm274626.htm http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm274626.htm http://www.apapracticecentral.org http://www.apapracticecentral.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Monitor on Psychology - February 2012

Monitor on Psychology - February 2012
Letters
President’s column
Contents
From the CEO
APA files two briefs in support of same-sex couples
New registry seeks to understand addiction recovery through ‘crowdsourcing’
APA launches a database of tests and measures
Watch for new member benefit: “APA Access”
Apply now for APA’s Advanced Training Institutes
PsycTHERAPY, APA’s new database, brings therapy demos to life
In Brief
APA scientists help guide tobacco regulation
A-mazing research
‘A machine for jumping to conclusions’
Judicial Notebook
Random Sample
Righting the imbalance
The beginnings of mental illness
Science Directions
Improving disorder classification, worldwide
Protesting proposed changes to the DSM
Interventions for at-risk students
Harnessing the wisdom of the ages
Anti-bullying efforts ramp up
Hostile hallways
R U friends 4 real?
Support for teachers
Speaking of Education
Record keeping for practitioners
Going green
At the intersection of law and psychology
Division Spotlight
Grants help solve society’s problems
Personalities

Monitor on Psychology - February 2012