Dessa Bergen-Cico, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Health, lead faculty of Addiction Studies at Syracuse University, and holds a research appointment at the Syracuse Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Dr. Bergen-Cico is a Certified Addiction Specialist (CAS) and teaches courses on addictive behaviors, drug policy, mindfulness meditation and cognitive behavioral approaches to stress and trauma. She also teaches international comparative drug policy courses and has taught in Amsterdam, Budapest, Florence, Strasbourg and Canterbury.Her areas of research have focused on alcohol and other drug policy, college student health behaviors, and the use of mindfulness meditation to foster self-regulation and reduce anxiety and stress among populations ranging from preschoolers to college students and military veterans. Dr. Bergen-Cico is the author of the 2012 book War and Drugs: The Role of Military Conflict in the Development of Substance Abuse; and in 2011 she co-authored the chapter Reuniting the Often Neglected Aims of Liberal Education: Student Well-Being and Psychosocial Development in Transformative Change on Our Campuses: Theory That Compels and Practices That Succeed.Prior to becoming a faculty member Dessa directed the National Security Studies health promotion programs for senior civilian and military leaders. She also served as the Associate Dean of Students for Syracuse University, Director of the University RAPE Center, Director of Substance Abuse Prevention and Health Enhancement, and Director of Assessment for Student Affairs. On a personal note Dessa competes in marathons, holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and lives in Central New York with her husband John. Their daughter Rachael works in the field of communications, and their son John is a cinematographer.