This episode, host Michael Donovan, Associate Director of the Evidence to Impact Collaborative at Penn State, speaks with Dr. Stephen Sandelich, Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine Penn State Health, Associate Director of Outreach PSACT and Sarah Ballard, Assistant Director of Outreach PSACT. The conversation explores the topic of substance use among adolescents, the role of stigma and privacy concerns, and how community and school-based outreach efforts are evolving to better support youth.

In this episode, host Michael Donovan, Associate Director of the Evidence to Impact Collaborative at Penn State, speaks with Dr. Alice Zhang, family medicine physician researcher in the Penn State Health Department of Family and Community Medicine, and Marcia Goodman-Hinnershitz, Director of Planning and Resource Development at the Council on Chemical Abuse. The conversation explores the Health to Go program, an innovative approach that uses interactive health vending machines to expand access to essential health resources in community settings.

Part 2 is here!

In this follow-up episode, we take a deeper look at the Madison Area Recovery Initiative (MARI). Dr. Aleksandra Zgierska (Penn State), Captain Joe Balles (retired, Madison Police Department), and Captain Diana Nachtigal (Madison Police Department) share how evidence-based outreach, peer recovery partnerships, and innovative diversion strategies are reshaping the connections between policing, addiction recovery, and community health.

More information on MARI can be found here: https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/community/mari/