Harm Reduction

Dr. Downing’s professional interests include designing meaningful learning experiences that enhance a learner’s health and well-being. In the classroom, she evaluates the impact of using evidence-based instructional strategies during the course design process on college student well-being measures, such as safe medication practice behaviors and healthcare self-efficacy. Outside the classroom, Dr. Downing supports the design and development of prevention education resources that help teach safe medication practices across the lifespan.

Dr. Newman is a pharmacologist with expertise in the neurobiology of substance use disorder (SUD) and Pharmacogenomics. In addition to developing courses and teaching in her areas of specialty in both the College’s Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences (BSPS) and the Doctor of Pharmacy programs, Dr. Newman leads the College of Pharmacy’s undergraduate programming, including the Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences (BSPS) program, the Pharmaceutical Science minor, and various General Education courses. In this role, she is actively involved with curricular development and implementation, program creation, and enhancement of the university student experience. Dr. Newman has focused her career on teaching and learning and is passionate about creatively enhancing the student experience to facilitate more student engagement and deeper, life-long learning. Dr. Newman has served as a Second-year Transformational Experience Program (STEP) mentor since 2018. Dr. Newman’s scholarly research efforts focus on evaluating how SUD is taught at the undergraduate and professional levels and on how understanding the neurobiology of SUD affects treatment and respect for individuals with SUD.