Sarah E. Clingan, Ph.D. is an Associate Project Scientist at UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences. Dr. Clingan received her B.A. and M.A. in psychology from California State University, Long Beach, and a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Research on Substance Use from the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Clingan recently completed her postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA where she investigated the Rural Expansion of Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder using telemedicine. Dr. Clingan’s research broadly aims to investigate and develop novel treatment approaches for people with opioid use disorder. With the Friends of the Semel Award, Dr. Clingan will be able to investigate the use of virtual reality (VR) recovery support for persons who are treated with medication for opioid use disorder. Dr. Clingan believes that her work will provide evidence that VR can be used to provide recovery support and that social connections with peers can be established and maintained through VR resulting in better outcomes and health for persons with opioid use disorder. Dr. Clingan is thrilled to be able to employ VR technology to support people with addictions with the goal of reducing morbidity and mortality in this vulnerable group.