Dr. Sharon Lipperman-Kreda is a Senior Research Scientist and Study Director at the Prevention Research Center (PRC). Her research has focused on adolescent substance use including tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana, and on the effects of macro- and micro-level socio-ecological environments on use of these substances.
She received her Ph.D. in Criminology in 2005 from Bar Ilan University in Israel and was a post-doctoral research fellow in the Prevention Science Research Training Program at PRC and the School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley from 2007-2009. Her research is grounded in a socio-ecological framework that considers how young people interact with their physical, social, and situational environments, and how these environments influence substance use behaviors, perceptions, and problems.
Currently, Dr. Lipperman-Kreda is director of a component on PRC’s NIAAA Center Grant that investigates the role of drinking contexts in alcohol-related problems and co-occurring drug use among adolescents. This research project includes ecological momentary assessments (EMA), qualitative interviews, and a longitudinal survey.
She is also the Principal Investigator on a grant funded by the California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP) to investigate influences of adolescents’ exposure to tobacco outlets in their daily lives on their tobacco and nicotine use behaviors and perceptions. This study uses observations of tobacco outlets and geographical momentary assessment (GMA) methods to track adolescents’ movements and behaviors in their activity spaces.
Her publications are listed on NIH’s National Library of Medicine site and on our publications page as well.
Selected Projects
Youth Activity Spaces and Exposure to Tobacco Outlets
Social Mechanisms of Early Alcohol and Substance Use Initiation and Progression to Problems
LGBT Adults and Tobacco Stigma: A Qualitative Study
Nighttime Drinking Contexts and Risks in Young Adult Drinkers Before and After Legal Drinking Age
