Raising Awareness of Alcohol Abuse Impacts

The Wootens hope recruitment funds they provided to support a new faculty member at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health will raise awareness about the harmful effects of alcohol abuse.

An expert in regulating alcohol sales and distribution, Pamela Trangenstein, PhD, assistant professor of health behavior, joined Gillings in August. She studies structural determinants of alcohol use, focusing on high-risk settings like college campuses. 

“I want to find out how we can move the needle on policies that prevent high-risk drinking and protect vulnerable populations,” Trangenstein says, noting alcohol’s links to injuries, hospital visits, car crashes, violent crime, sexual assaults, vandalism, public intoxication and infectious disease. “Alcohol is one of the leading causes of death but there are very few people studying it, so there are many opportunities to make a difference.”

Trangenstein is conducting a national survey on college alcohol policies and plans to evaluate whether a new state law allowing alcohol sales on campus during college sports games has any public health ramifications. 

“We were honored to provide recruitment funds to help bring Dr. Trangenstein to UNC for alcohol education and to further the communication about the detriment of alcohol abuse,” says Ann Wooten, who as a sorority trustee has become deeply concerned about excessive alcohol use. 

“We know the Gillings School of Global Public Health is a leader in the world,” Ron Wooten says, “and we hope the focus it can put on alcohol misuse and the problems it creates will combat the misinformed encouragement of alcohol use.”

“I want to find out how we can move the needle on policies that prevent high-risk drinking and protect vulnerable populations.”

Pamela Trangenstein, PhD
Assistant Professor of Health Behavior