Amelia Arria
Director, Center on Young Adult Health and Development and Director, Office of Planning and Evaluation
Other Affiliations: Center on Young Adult Health and Development, Office of the Dean
Phone: (301) 405-9795 | Email: aarria@umd.edu | Twitter: @CYAHDatUMD
Amelia M. Arria, Ph.D. is the Director of the Center on Young Adult Health and Development at the University of Maryland School of Public Health and a Professor in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health. She is also the Director of the University of Maryland School of Public Health Office of Planning and Evaluation. As a first-generation college student, she received a B.S. in Human Development from Cornell University, a Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, and completed postdoctoral training at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. She has authored more than 180 scientific peer-reviewed publications, numerous white papers and book chapters, and is the recipient of several major grant awards from foundations, and state and federal agencies. Her research is primarily focused on mental health and substance use among adolescents, young adults, and in particular college students. She has also completed studies related to mental health service utilization, predictors of suicidal behavior, prenatal substance use, and evaluations of addiction treatment. She is the Principal Investigator of the College Life Study, a large prospective study of more than 1200 individuals who were originally assessed as first-year college students and followed up into adulthood. That study has made significant contributions the scientific literature regarding the mental health needs of young adults and the risk factors and consequences of substance use among college students. A main thrust her work is the connection between untreated mental health conditions, substance use and human capital, as measured by academic achievement, employment, and health status. She is passionate about translating research findings for practical purposes to be used by parents, policy makers, and educational professionals. She has a leadership role in the Maryland Collaborative to Reduce College Drinking and Related Problems, a policy initiative that brings together 17 universities in the state of Maryland to utilize evidence-based practices to address excessive drinking and other substance use among college students.
Postdoctoral Fellow, Epidemiology of Psychiatric Disorders and Drug Dependence, Department of Mental Hygiene, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
PhD, Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA
BS, Human Development and Family Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
HLTH 200
HLTH 352
HLTH 776
Research Fellowships
Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Research Service Award (Institutional), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 1995-1996
Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Research Service Award (Institutional), National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH), 1993-1995
Predoctoral Fellowship, National Service Award (Institutional), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), 1987-1991
Research Awards
The Visionary Award: For Outstanding Contributions to Youth Recovery Research through the Use of Applied Sciences, Association of Recovery Schools, 2016
Fellow Award, Mary Christie Foundation, 2016
Research Leader, University of Maryland College Park, 2003-2016
Teaching Awards
Nominee, University of Maryland's Graduate Faculty Mentor of the Year, 2016
Most Valuable Professor (MVP), Women’s Field Hockey Team, 2014
Please see the CYAHD Publications Page.