Ms Blyum is originally from Kazakhstan. She is currently obtaining her PhD degree at SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Interdisciplinary Research on Substance Use, CA, the USA following successful completion of Doctoral Candidacy defence in December 2020. Her dissertation focuses on resilience to alcohol use disorders in transitional-age youth. Her research interest also lies in the interface between substance use disorders and delinquency, intersectional stigma, associated with substance use disorders and co-occurring diseases, such as HIV. In this regard, she serves as a Research Associate for the study on intersectional stigma intervention targets for People Who Inject Drugs (PWIDs) in a High-Risk International Setting. As a professional in the field of substance use education, Ms Blyum:
a) is trained as a trainer on Motivational Interviewing (MINT-member), Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention, Universal Treatment Curriculum for Substance Use Disorders (UTC), selected prevention curricula (UPC);
b) is credentialed internationally as International Certified Addiction Professional (ICAP I); and
c) been a member of the International Society of Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP) since 2017.
She continues her extensive training in the field expanding her skills in evidence-based interventions and techniques and is interested in incorporating the Body-Oriented and Dance Therapies and Pilates into person-centred strength-based approaches to recovery and rehabilitation processes. She is an alumna of E. Muskie Graduate Fellowship and holds BAs in Foreign Languages and Physical Training and MS in Urban Policy Analysis and Management from The New School, NYC.
While pursuing research, Ms Blyum had also been serving as a Project Coordinator and Trainer at the University of California San Diego – Ukraine and Central Asia Addiction Technology Transfer Center (UCS ATTC) funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). In this capacity, during the three-year project implementation, she had been directly involved in building competencies and capacities in addiction treatment, mental health, primary health care and HIV care workforce.
From 2014-2017 she served as a Senior Program Officer for Central Asia and Afghanistan at the Colombo Plan International Center for Credentialing and Education of Addiction Professionals (ICCE). In this capacity, she has been instrumental in the implementation of the mission to professionalize the drug demand reduction workforce work internationally, particularly in the Central Asian Region, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Training of National Trainers on the Universal Treatment Curriculum (UTC) in Kazakhstan, in particular, was initiated in the framework of the joint Colombo Plan-UNODC ROCA project and under Ms Blyum’s project coordination. Continuing to support the international agenda of professionalizing the drug demand reduction workforce, she currently collaborates as a trainer with the International Consortium of Universities for Drug Demand Reduction (ICUDDR) to facilitate the integration of UTC in universities in Egypt, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, Los Angeles Centers for Alcohol & Drug Abuse (LACADA) and other treatment providers.