Jeremy Kourvelas, Program Coordinator for the SMART Substance Abuse Program, will present a lecture on the ways that the SMART Initiative, through the UT Institute for Public Service, provides interventional resources for Tennesseans and educational resources for both civilians and healthcare providers. This lecture seeks to equip students with knowledge on how the University of Tennessee System seeks to curb crises of substance abuse in the state through evidence- and care-based methods.

After graduating from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s in psychology, Jeremy spent more than four years in multiple emergency departments in Knox, Roane, Blount and Claiborne counties as a medical scribe. He returned to UT for a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) and Certificate in Health Policy and became SMART’s first employee in 2022. Jeremy also works for the Prevention Alliance of Tennessee, which seeks to advance prevention efforts pertaining to substance, alcohol and tobacco use disorders.

Brain Awareness Week is an annual event held during the second week of March and organized by the Dana Foundation to recognize innovations and exciting topics in neuroscience. Each year, organizations across the world center their own Brain Awareness Week around various themes. Thus, the Advancement of Neuroscience at UTK has decided to develop programming around the neurological basis of addiction and its greater implications in the greater Knoxville community, providing a series of workshops, guest lectures, and social events to bring light to this issue.