Christopher Salas-Wright, Assistant Professor at BUSSW, Recognized with 2019 Deborah K. Padgett Early Career Achievement Award

The Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Early Career Achievement recognizes innovative scholarship, rigorous approach to social work research, emerging influence in the field, and contributions to advance the profession.

Christopher Salas-Wright, MSW, PhD, assistant professor in the BUSSW, has received the 2019 Deborah K. Padgett Early Career Achievement Award from the Society for Social Work and Research, the organization’s premier honor for up and coming scholars. The award will be presented at the 2019 SSWR Annual Conference in San Francisco, California in January.

“It is very exciting to be selected for this award,” said Dr. Salas-Wright. “I feel honored and grateful to the many SSWR members who have mentored and supported me in my work as an early career scholar.”

Dr. Salas-Wright’s research focuses on cultural stress and resilience among immigrants and the prevention of adolescent substance use and health-risk behavior. Since earning his doctoral degree, his work has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and, at present, he is principal investigator of a five-year NIH-funded project focused on the prevention of substance use and violence among Latino middle school students.

He has authored more than 145 scholarly publications, including two books and first-author articles in journals such as the American Journal of Public Health, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, and Journal of Adolescent Health. His research and commentary have appeared in numerous national media outlets such as ABC, NBC, and CBS News, CNN, MSNBC, USA TODAY, National Public Radio, and The Washington Post.

In addition to his teaching and research, Dr. Salas-Wright has served on several editorial boards, including Research on Social Work Practice and Social Work Research, and he recently guest edited a special issue of Journal of Social Work Practice in the Addictions. As a SSWR member, he serves on the Doctoral Fellows Award Committee and the National Advisory Committee for the Fahs-Beck Fund for Research and Experimentation.

Prior to joining Boston University, Dr. Salas-Wright was faculty at The University of Texas at Austin’s Steve Hicks School of Social Work. He received his MSW from the University of Washington, PhD in Social Work from Boston College, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Brown University’s Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies.