Sarah Lange
Title of Program: Addiction and Behavioral Neuroscience
Title of Program: Engineering for Sustainability
E-mail Address: slange2@vols.utk.edu
Hometown: Clarksville, TN
Year: Junior
Anticipated Graduation Date: 2024
Description of Program: The courses I am enrolled in will discuss the therapeutic and pharmaceutical strategies for addiction treatment with a complex understanding of an addiction’s behavioral and neurobiological effects on the brain. My program combines a scientific perspective of addiction with the psychological and philosophical perspectives behind addiction recovery, focusing on treating the body as a being rather than a disease. This program focuses on incorporating public health coursework with sociology classes to address the drug epidemic and focus on public policy and healthcare reform.
Within my course, I include opportunities for addiction research and an internship with a local addiction rehabilitation center to learn how genetic, family, social, and community factors can contribute to the prevalence of addiction within a population and outcomes for addiction prevention and recovery.
Departmental Emphases: Psychology, Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, Public Health, Sociology, and Child and Family Studies
Faculty Mentor: Gregory Stuart
Plans after graduation (career, graduate/professional school, etc.): After graduation, I will attend medical school with the hopes of becoming a physician with a specialty in addiction medicine. After, I plan to practice in metropolitan or rural areas where communities are often the most at-risk for addiction.
Other Academic Interests: I am passionate about the intersectionality between community addiction trends and public healthcare reform, both of which, when addressed, can end the cycle of generational addiction that so frequently targets at-risk and minority populations. Additionally, I am passionate about incorporating an emphasis on lifestyle medicine - that is, incorporating meditation, diet, hormone balance, and exercise into mental health treatment - with a focus on preventative therapy for the family and children of those with addictions to end the cycle of addiction.
Prior Enrollment at Other Colleges or Universities: N/A
Study Abroad: I plan to study abroad in Ireland as a part of the Haslam Scholar 2020 Cohort during the 2023 Winter Term.
Research Experiences or Internships: Undergraduate Research Assistant for Relationship Aggression and Addictive Disorders (RAAD) Lab, Free Medical Clinic of America
Part-time employment; Hobbies; Campus Clubs/Activities: Haslam Scholars Program, Emergency Room Medical Scribe, Resident Assistant, Brain Exercise Initiative, Pursuit Journal of Undergraduate Research, Alpha Omicron Pi, Phi Beta Kappa Society
