About

The Addiction Research Institute (ARI) is housed within the Steve Hicks School of Social Work with Dr. Kasey Claborn as Director.

The ARI pursues interdisciplinary, scientifically rigorous social and behavioral research pertaining to the fields of addiction and recovery, and provides expertise and a range of services, including program evaluation and training, to research and practice communities.

The South Southwest Addiction Technology Transfer Center (SSW ATTC) is located within the ARI at the Lake Austin Center (LAC). It serves the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, and regional tribal communities. 

The ARI supports federal, state, and private-funded research initiatives from NIH, SAMHSA, and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.   

The ARI focuses on the prevention and intervention of substance use disorders, with a particular focus on harm reduction, peer support interventions, and recovery science. The institute emphasizes factors at the individual, family, organizational, societal, and cultural levels that influence substance use disorders and their treatment.  

ARI Open House Highlights

Dr. Lori Holleran Steiker and Air Britt speak with an interested student.
Dr. Kasey Claborn chatting with UT students volunteering with TxCope at the ARI Open House on Jan. 20, 2023.
The ARI open house featured various booths so students and the community can learn more about ARI.
Dr. Lori Holleran Steiker, Air Britt and a student pose after chatting.
Dr. Fiona Conway speaks to the audience at the ARI Open House.
Raynon Mckee speaks with a student volunteer with Shift, an ARI partner in helping work with substance abuse on campus.
Get Involved

The ARI’s activities include promoting technology transfer, addressing health disparities, expanding and improving the quality of the workforce, facilitating systems change and recovery transformation, conducting drug use epidemiological studies, and implementing program evaluation.  

The ARI participated as a contributing member of the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s (NIDA) Community Epidemiology Work Group from 1995 to 2015, reporting on illicit drug trends and patterns in Texas.    

The ARI at UT Austin has a long history of research and evaluation of addiction treatment and recovery processes, as well as recovery-oriented systems of care. It has partnered with academic institutions, state and local governments, and recovery community organizations in an effort to build infrastructures of recovery support services and to examine the outcomes of individuals receiving these services.