Posted on December 9, 2004 at 4:04 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) psychologist Michael Windle, Ph.D., has joined the steering committee of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s Initiative on Underage Drinking.

The steering committee is comprised of leaders with broad and varied expertise in child and adolescent development, neuroscience, genetics, prevention research, public policy, communications, alcohol research and other fields. The panel’s first meeting was held September 20 in Bethesda, Maryland.

Windle is a professor in the UAB Department of Psychology. He also directs the university’s Center for the Advancement of Youth Health. His research focuses on the correlates and predictors of substance abuse, psychiatric dysfunction and violence among children and teens and the consequences of these conditions for subsequent life adjustments in young adulthood.

He is the principal investigator of a three-site research project, Healthy Passages, which is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Through the study, Windle is examining risk factors for children and teen health behaviors that include tobacco use, alcohol and drug abuse, violence, physical activity, nutrition and sexual behavior.