Fiona Conway, Ph.D., will serve as the newest fellow for Texas Social Work’s Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professorship in Services to Children and Families, effective this August.
Dr. Conway serves as assistant professor at Texas Social Work and associate director of research at the Addiction Research Institute. She also serves as director of adjunct affairs for Texas Social Work. Her research primarily focuses on substance use behaviors emphasizing recovery support services, digital health solutions, and substance use among adolescents and young adults.
“Professor Conway is an excellent teacher, researcher, and noted expert on behavioral health, particularly the ways we approach the treatment of substance misuse among adolescents and young adults,” said Allan Cole, dean of Texas Social Work. “She is also an innovator when it comes to practices related to digital health solutions and recovery services, and she transforms lives with her work. She is exceptional colleague, and I celebrate her appointment.”
In addition to her work in recovery and substance abuse, Dr. Conway also collaborates with biomedical scientists to investigate the relationships between behavioral health and human biology. She is particularly interested in the relationships between psychological distress, neuro-cardiac self-regulation, and substance use.
Throughout her interdisciplinary research, Dr. Conway seeks to facilitate the transfer of new and innovative scientific strategies to substance use prevention specialists and treatment providers, especially in the ways that these strategies impact young people.
“The Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professorship stands for developing lasting change and I am deeply honored to be named as its next fellow,” said Dr. Conway. “The work we do in substance abuse research is profound for the ways we support children and young people, and make families thrive. It is a joy to create impact and provide evidence-based approaches toward recovery. This professorship will continue to make this research grow, and I am excited about what the future brings.”