Alicia Sparks, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Dr. Sparks has more than 15 years of experience working at the nexus of policy and behavioral health research. She designs, implements, and evaluates studies, programs, and policies, and focuses on systems-level change to prevent alcohol misuse and related harms. She currently directs Synergy’s contract work for the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking Act of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and for the Alcohol Policy Information System of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

She has led the development of numerous publications intended for broad public dissemination: comprehensive guides on substance use and mental health topics for community coalitions; the Implementing Community-Level Policies to Prevent Alcohol Misuse evidence-based resource guide; the Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health; and dozens of peer-reviewed manuscripts with accompanying infographics to translate the research into practice.

Dr. Sparks has experience conducting focus groups and in-depth interviews relevant to policy and behavioral health; engaging technical experts; leading rigorous literature and evidence reviews; and managing quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method data collection and analysis. She received her Ph.D. in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and her M.P.H. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.