By Dara Vance

At the American Sociological Association (ASA) 2015 annual meeting in Chicago, Ill., in August, Sociology Associate Professor Carrie Oser received the “Senior Scholar Award” from the Alcohol, Drugs, & Tobacco section. This award is given annually to one scholar for their outstanding scientific contributions to the sociological examination of alcohol, drugs, and/or tobacco.  Oser, who is the youngest scholar to ever receive the award, was selected from an international field of scholars. 

Carrie Oser has been a faculty member in the Department of Sociology at UK since 2006. Her research interests include addiction health services, health disparities, HIV risk behaviors/interventions, as well as drug use among rural, minority, and criminal justice populations. 

As part of her commitment to innovation in education, she and a colleague, Michele Staton-Tindall in the College of Social Work, developed a partnership between the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Department of Corrections. In a course titled “Drugs and Crime, An Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program Course,” undergraduate students and inmates learn together in classes held at Blackburn Correctional Complex in north Lexington.

In addition to her recognition from the ASA, Oser has received research awards from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) totaling over $4 million dollars and has collaborated as a co-investigator on National Institutes of Health (NIH) projects supported by more than $16 million in the past decade.