CASAA director honored with prestigious mentorship award
August 21, 2025 - Anna Padilla
University of New Mexico researcher Katie Witkiewitz Ph.D., was recently honored with the Marlatt Mentorship Award from the Research Society on Alcohol, the largest organization of alcohol researchers in the country.
The award recognizes an individual whose mentoring of young researchers in the alcohol research field is demonstrated to be exceptional. Witkiewitz is the director for the Center on Alcohol, Substance use, And Addictions (CASAA) and has mentored 25 people in her 13 years at UNM. For her, this feels like a full circle moment.
“The award was actually created after my mentor died. Dr. Alan Marlatt was my graduate school mentor, which is why it really meant a lot to win it. He was a leader in the alcohol research field himself and mentored a lot of leaders in the field,” Witkiewitz said. “I wouldn’t be where I am as a scientist without him.”
Witkiewitz said Marlatt passed away when she was still early in her career. Though the loss of a mentor was difficult, people from the Research Society of Alcohol stepped in to help mentor and guide her.
All throughout her career, Witkiewitz tried to pay that forward. “Above all else, I value and really work hard in mentoring. I always say that my mentees come first.”
Witkiewitz is the second UNM faculty member to ever receive this award. Former CASAA Director, Barbara McCrady Ph.D., was the person who recruited Witkiewitz to UNM and won this award in 2016. “I’m proud that UNM is known for our phenomenal mentoring of alcohol researchers, and this award acknowledges the work we’ve been doing to carry on Marlatt’s legacy," Witkiewitz said.
She says being a mentor is something that brings her joy. “To have new ideas and enthusiasm and excitement is refreshing because science can really grind you down as an individual and to be surrounded by trainees who are optimistic and bring new ideas makes it fun. And having them develop their careers is both incredibly challenging and tremendously fulfilling,” Witkiewitz said.
As for training researchers in the future, Witkiewitz is optimistic. For 15 years, CASAA has been funded through a National Institutes of Health Training Grant, initially awarded to McCrady and now led by Witkiewitz, to fund 4 predoctoral and 3 postdoctoral fellows/trainees to become independent alcohol researchers. The grant has funded 17 of Witkiewitz’s trainees, and now 5 of those former trainees are among the 12 Training Grant training faculty.
It is a testament to the excellent training program at UNM CASAA that the NIH Training Grant at CASAA was just renewed for 5 more years. The NIH Training Grant will provide $2.38 million dollars to UNM CASAA to support the training of even more excellent trainees in building their careers as independent alcohol researchers.
“If it wasn’t for this training grant, I would have never been able to mentor these phenomenal scientists,” Witkiewitz said.
