This conference will educate participants on the dangers and effects of cannabis use among young adults, while creating a community of care to better address this growing issue. The conference will also provide an opportunity to build partnerships with other university and community members.
Schedule
9:00 AM – 9:15 AM
9:15 AM – 10:15 AM
Rhode Island Department of Health
Madison Rivard, MPH (Public Health Epidemiologist)
and
Bryan Lucier (Senior Public Health Promotion Specialist) from the Rhode Island Department of Health
10:15 AM – 10:30 AM Break
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM
NCAA
Alicia Fine, MS, ATC Associate Director of Health Promotion
and
Lydia Bell, PhD Managing Director of Research
11:30 AM – 12:15 PM Breakout Rooms
12:15 PM – 1:00 PM Lunch Break
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Jason Kilmer, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine and an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at UW
2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Colorado School of Public Health
James Corbett, JD, MDIV
Annie Collier, PhD, MA
and
Gregory Tung PhD, MPH
3:00 PM – 3:15 PM Break
3:15 PM – 3:45 PM Community conversation & Town Gown
3:45 PM – 4:00 PM Closing remarks
“Cultivating Cannabis Awareness: An Educational Symposium,” nominated for NASPA’s program of the year, is returning. Due to demand, this conference will be held virtually and will take place on January 7th, 2026, in collaboration with Roger Williams University. The event promises to be a transformative experience for professionals, academics, and industry leaders of all kinds with exciting keynote speakers, breakout discussions, invaluable networking opportunities, and the opportunity to participate in a “Town Gown” discussion dedicated to all university staff members and public health professionals.
This year’s conference will focus on educating participants on the dangers and effects of cannabis use among young adults while creating a community of care to better address this growing issue. Participants will gain access to a wealth of knowledge and strategies to implement in their business, work, or research.
Some key highlights of the “Cultivating Cannabis Awareness: An Educational Symposium” include:
Keynote Speakers:
- From the Rhode Island Department of Health
- Madison Rivard (Public Health Epidemiologist)
- Bryan Lucier (Senior Public Health Promotion Specialist)
- From the NCAA
- Alicia Fine, MS, ATC (Associate Director of Health Promotion)
- Lydia Bell, PhD (Managing Director of Research)
- From the University of Washington
- Jason Kilmer, PhD (Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine and an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at UW)
- From the Colorado School of Public Health
-
James Corbett, JD, MDIV
-
Annie Collier, PhD, MA
-
Gregory Tung PhD, MPH
-
Round Table:
A diverse range of sessions covering specific topics aimed at promoting insightful conversation about ongoing cannabis issues.
Town Gown Discussion:
An end-of-conference discussion to address particular challenges related to substance misuse and mental health on Rhode Island campuses.
Registration for the conference is now open. Space is limited, so please register before the December 30th, 2025, deadline to secure your spot!
Meet our Speakers
Madison K. Rivard, MPH (she/her) works at the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) as the Cannabis Use Epidemiologist focusing on the impact of cannabis use and health. Madison works in the Substance Use Epidemiology Program at RIDOH to create a system of data monitoring to evaluate the public health impact of cannabis on Rhode Islanders. She has worked in several different areas in public health and epidemiology including emergency services, behavioral health, health disparities, and is passionate about health equity and harm reduction.
Bryan Lucier is a seasoned communications professional with two decades of experience in public relations and journalism. He specializes in translating complex information vital to improving the health and well-being of Rhode Islanders into clear, effective messaging for diverse audiences. His position as cannabis communications specialist at the Rhode Island Department of Health is one of three created in the Rhode Island Cannabis Act to produce education and public awareness campaigns centered on cannabis use and its potential risks. He honed his skills in media relations, event planning, speechwriting, content creation, collateral development, brand management, crisis communications, social media and website management as a communications specialist at the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, a role he took after serving as an editor at South County Newspapers.
Alicia Fine joined the NCAA Sport Science Institute in May 2023 as Associate Director of Health Promotion. As a member of the team, she will support the management of the SSI health promotion portfolio, addressing priority initiatives that include mental health and well-being, sexual violence prevention, substance misuse prevention, sleep, nutrition and performance.
Prior to joining the NCAA, Alicia was a faculty member at the University of New Hampshire for three years where she launched and served as coordinator for the undergraduate health sciences program. In this role, she developed and instructed musculoskeletal pathologies, allied health and public health curriculum. Alicia earned her bachelor’s degree in athletic training from the University of Alabama and her master’s degree in health and human physiology from the University of Iowa while serving as a graduate assistant athletic trainer for the men’s and women’s tennis teams.
Lydia Bell is Managing Director of Research at the NCAA. In this role, Lydia oversees all aspects of the NCAA’s research department including study design, data collection/management, survey operations, research communications, policy applications of research and the NCAA library/archives. Lydia has been extensively involved in the department’s student-athlete well-being survey research, its efforts to analyze Division I enrollment, retention and transfer data to inform policy, and in overseeing the department’s grant programs. Prior to joining the NCAA, Lydia was an assistant professor of practice in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona. She has also held roles in academic advising and student affairs at Pima Community College and Bowdoin College. Lydia received her Ph.D. in Language, Reading and Culture and M.A. in Higher Education from the University of Arizona, and an A.B. in Government & Legal Studies and Sociology from Bowdoin College.
Dr. Jason Kilmer is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine and an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at UW. Throughout his career, Jason has worked in both the student affairs world and the research world. In each professional position he has held, his responsibilities include research related to reducing harms associated with substance use by college students and directly serving and supporting students and colleagues in divisions of Students Affairs or Student Life.
At UW’s Center for the Study of Health & Risk Behaviors (CSHRB), Jason serves as an investigator on several studies evaluating prevention and intervention efforts for alcohol, cannabis, and other drug use by college students. In addition to research and teaching, Jason has worked extensively with college students and campus professionals around alcohol and other drug prevention programming both at UW and on over 150 campuses nationwide.
Jason has been project faculty for several international learning collaboratives, including Dartmouth’s National College Health Improvement Program and the International Town and Gown Association’s (ITGA’s) partnership with UW’s BASICS Innovations Group to support campuses in their implementation of Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS).
Jason was the 2014 recipient of the National Prevention Network’s Award of Excellence for outstanding contributions to the prevention field, was the 2024 recipient of The Montana Institute’s Science of the Positive National Leadership Award, and was the 2025 recipient of NASPA’s George D. Kuh Award for Outstanding Contribution to Literature and/or Research.
James Corbett is ethicist and healthcare executive bringing over a decade of behavioral health leadership experience in states across the country. As principal of Initium Health, James works nationwide on behavioral health marketing campaigns, crisis care facilities, opioid settlement funding initiatives, and mental health and substance use disorder related efforts. Mr. Corbett has served as a Fellow at Harvard Medical School, Harvard’s Safra Center for Ethics, and the Nashville Healthcare Council. In addition, he served a 4-year term on the National Institutes of Health’s National Advisory Council for Nursing Research, having been honored to receive the appointment from former Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius. He has also served as Expert Advisor to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and an expert reviewer for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). James’ health system experience comes from serving in four health systems, providing strategic and operational leadership for behavioral health, population health, research operations, global health, advocacy, and ethics. Mr. Corbett earned his Bachelor of Science in International Relations from Syracuse University, his Juris Doctorate from St. John’s University and a Master of Divinity from Duke University.
Dr. Annie Collier is a research-based clinical psychologist with an emphasis on health psychology. At the beginning of her career, she contributed to the fields of psychosocial oncology and psychoneuroimmunology. After living overseas, her professional focus changed to behavioral health and wellness program development, implementation, and evaluation of Indigenous people in under-resourced areas. She relies on co-design with community-based participatory research models. Her specializations include mental health and substance abuse, digital health technologies, art, and positive psychological interventions, science-informed art exhibitions for public health education, and capacity building with Indigenous and under-resourced professionals, students, and trainees. She is the PI and co-PI of several NIH and NSF-funded studies with American Indian and Alaska Native people.
Dr. Greg Tung is an associate professor in the Colorado School of Public Health’s Department of Health Systems, Management & Policy. His research interests relate to how scientific evidence is incorporated into policy and program decision making, with a special emphasis on injury prevention. Dr. Tung works on a diverse range of injury topics, including the prevention of youth violence, suicides, poisonings and child abuse. His research interests also include the integration of health services and public health systems, with a focus on non-profit hospital community benefit activities. Dr. Tung is a mixed methods researcher and utilizes both quantitative (e.g. longitudinal, multi-level, and time-to-event analysis) and qualitative (e.g. case studies) methods. He is also a faculty member in the Injury & Violence Prevention Center.