In the fall of 2011, we launched a university-wide research project (“Spit for Science”; Dick et al., 2014) focused on genetic and environmental influences on substance use and mental health among college students. This project provided the impetus for an effort to bring together relevant individuals across the university concerned about student substance use. Here we provide an overview of this university initiative and our perspective on how developing connections between basic researchers and applied practitioners can be mutually beneficial. We argue that the university setting is a tremendous opportunity to forge these translational relationships.
