Author archives

Dr. Nikki Crowley is the Director of the Penn State Neuroscience Institute at University Park, the Huck Early Career Chair in Neurobiology & Neural Engineering and an Assistant Professor of Biology, Biomedical Engineering, and Pharmacology at Penn State. Crowley’s research centers around understanding neuropeptides as unique signaling molecules in the brain, with an emphasis on the interactions between neuropeptides and neurotransmitters. Crowley is the recipient of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology’s Editors Early Career Award (2022), a Young Investigator Award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institutes of Health (2023), and The Whitaker Center’s Women of Impact: Woman to Watch Award (2023). Dr. Crowley joined the Department of Biology as an assistant professor in 2020. She is a Washington, DC native, forever east-coaster, and second-generation Penn Stater.

Even 1 drink a day elevates your cancer risk – an expert on how alcohol affects the body breaks down a new government report

The past few decades, mounting scientific evidence has shown that as little as 1-2 alcoholic drinks per day can lead to increases in the likelihood of several cancers. This prompted the U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, to release a new Surgeon General Advisory on Jan. 3, 2025, warning about the link between alcohol and cancer. Nikki Crowley, Professor of Biology, Biomedical Engineering and Pharmacology at Penn State highlights the evidence and associated with the call for new cancer warning labels on alcoholic beverages.

The association between alcohol and cancer isn’t new news – scientists have been trying to determine the link for decades – yet most people aren’t aware of the risks and may only associate drinking with liver disease like cirrhosis. In a 2019 survey from the American Institute for Cancer Research, less than half of Americans identified alcohol as a risk factor for cancer.

Subjects: Government Resources, Healthcare