Weill Cornell Medical College of New York City received two grants totaling $1.75 million for research on drug abuse prevention and the role of human dignity in biotechnologies’ debates.

Dr. Kenneth Griffin, associate professor of public health in the division of prevention and health behavior at Weill Cornell, received a three year $1.6 million grant, said Weill Cornell.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded the grant to Griffin for research into the long-term effects of a school-based drug-abuse prevention program. The program is specific to the urban minority of New York City middle schools, said Weill Cornell.

The study will focus on a sample of 3,500 young adults, 21- to 23-years-old. This sample will be made up of participants in a randomized prevention program during their teen years, said Weill Cornell.

The study will not only focus on the effects of drug prevention education on tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug abuse, but also test to see if there is a link to a variety of sexual risk behaviors, Weill Cornell added.

Dr. Immaculada de Melo-Martín, associate professor of public health in the division of medical ethics at Weill Cornell, received a two year $150,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

The grant will support research into the ways the concept of human dignity is used in debates about biotechnologies like embryonic stem cell research.

The research is hoped to improve communications between science and humanities, while figuring out what debaters mean when claiming scientific advancement threaten human dignity, said Weill Cornell.

Address: Weill Cornell Medical College, 525 East 68th Street, Box 144, New York, NY 10021; (212) 821-0560, www.med.cornell.edu.