NIH Office Hours at the Conference

NIH Office Hours at the SPR 2026 Conference

Meet with representatives from NIH institutes and offices during the SPR Conference to discuss research priorities, funding opportunities, prevention science initiatives, and areas of shared interest.

About NIH Office Hours

NIH program officers and staff will be available throughout the conference for open office hours and scheduled meetings. Attendees are encouraged to connect with representatives to discuss current and future research opportunities, funding priorities, prevention science initiatives, and career development questions.

Open Office Hours

Several NIH representatives will offer open office hours during the conference with no appointment required.

Scheduled Meetings

Some representatives are offering scheduled appointments. Please review the details below for appointment instructions.

Meeting Locations

Office hours will take place in the following locations:


NIAAA: Yosemite on the 2nd Floor
NIDA: Bryce on the 2nd Floor
ODP: Yosemite on the 2nd Floor

NIH Office of Disease Prevention (NIH/ODP)

Elizabeth Neilson and Staff

Improve public health by increasing the scope, quality, dissemination, and impact of prevention research supported by NIH.

Open Office Hours:
Thursday, May 28
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Meeting Room: Yosemite (2nd Floor)

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Bob Freeman

Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research (DEPR)

DEPR promotes and supports applied, translational, and methodological research on the epidemiology and prevention of hazardous alcohol consumption and related behaviors, alcohol use disorder, alcohol-related mortality and morbidity, and other alcohol-related problems and consequences.

Scheduled Office Hours:
Thursday, May 28
1:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Meeting Room: Yosemite (2nd Floor)

To schedule an appointment, please email: rfreeman@mail.nih.gov.

Tatiana Balachova

Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research (DEPR)

DEPR promotes and supports applied, translational, and methodological research on the epidemiology and prevention of hazardous alcohol consumption and related behaviors, alcohol use disorder, and other alcohol-related problems.

Open Office Hours (No Appointment Needed)

Wednesday, May 27
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Thursday, May 28
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Meeting Room: Yosemite (2nd Floor)

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

NIDA representatives will be available throughout the conference to discuss prevention science, epidemiology, substance use research, community-based prevention, tobacco regulatory science, telehealth, youth engagement, prevention in healthcare settings, behavioral health workforce development, and additional priority areas.

MeLisa Creamer

NIDA, Epidemiology Research

Office Hours
Thursday, May 28
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM

Friday, May 29
10:45 AM – 12:00 PM

Meeting Room: Bryce (2nd Floor)

Research Areas

  • Patterns of use and longitudinal studies
  • New psychoactive substances
  • Social media

Amy Goldstein

NIDA, Prevention Research

Office Hours
Wednesday, May 27
1:15 PM – 2:45 PM

Meeting Room: Bryce (2nd Floor)

Research Areas

  • Prevention, in general
  • Co-morbidities
  • Prevention in educational settings
  • Prevention in child welfare

Heather Kimmel

NIDA, Epidemiology Research

Office Hours
Wednesday, May 27
1:15 PM – 2:45 PM

Thursday, May 28
2:45 PM – 4:15 PM

Meeting Room: Bryce (2nd Floor)

Research Areas

  • Research on how laws, regulations & organizational rules affect substance use, including impacts of tobacco & cannabis regulations on use patterns, polysubstance use & health outcomes
  • Leading the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) Study
  • Supporting the NIDA-funded National Addiction & Health Data Archive Program (NAHDAP)

Angela Lee-Winn

NIDA, Prevention Research and Treatment and Recovery Services Research

Office Hours
Thursday, May 28
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM and
1:00 PM – 2:30 PM

Meeting Room: Bryce (2nd Floor)

Research Areas

  • HIV Prevention
  • Translation of epidemiology to prevention

Sean Lynch

NIDA, Treatment & Recovery Services Research

Office Hours
Wednesday, May 27
10:15 AM – 11:45 AM and
1:15 PM – 2:45 PM

Meeting Room: Bryce (2nd Floor)

Research Areas

  • Behavioral health workforce
  • Mental health comorbidity
  • Rural prevention research
  • Families/loved ones
  • Adolescents
  • Emerging Adults
  • Telehealth
  • Faith communities

Shannon Mitchell

NIDA, Prevention Research

Office Hours
Thursday, May 28
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM

Meeting Room: Bryce (2nd Floor)

Research Areas

  • Prevention in justice settings
  • Prevention of opioid misuse/pain-related research
  • Social media/digital interventions

Shannon Nicks

NIDA, Prevention Research

Office Hours
Wednesday, May 27
1:15 PM – 2:45 PM

Thursday, May 28
10:00 AM – 11:30 AM

Meeting Room: Bryce (2nd Floor)

Research Areas

  • Community-based prevention
  • Prevention in healthcare
  • Youth engagement

Barbara Oudekerk

NIDA, Epidemiology Research / NCREW

Office Hours
Thursday, May 28
2:45 PM – 4:15 PM

Meeting Room: Bryce (2nd Floor)

Research Areas

  • NCREW

Sarah Vidal

NIDA, Epidemiology Research

Office Hours
Thursday, May 28
2:45 PM – 4:15 PM

Meeting Room: Bryce (2nd Floor)

Research Areas

  • Substance use and misuse, and addiction within the contexts of adolescent development, families, youth justice, child welfare, and Native American health

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