Bio
Kathleen (Katie) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the NIH T32 Training Program on HIV and Substance Use in the Criminal Justice System. Her research focuses on using community-engaged approaches to understand the syndemic intersections of substance use, violence, and health among urban women. During her doctoral training at the Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health, Katie validated a traumatic life events index tailored for women who use drugs and examined how trauma shapes HIV risk. She also contributed to the evaluation of community-based drug treatment programs and trauma-informed mental health interventions aimed at reducing HIV risk among women who inject drugs. Prior to her doctoral training, Katie worked as a Program Coordinator at Johns Hopkins University, supporting peer-based interventions to increase access to infectious diseases testing and treatment for individuals living with HIV, Hepatitis C, and substance use disorders.
Katie has been recognized for excellence in mentorship at Drexel University and has co-authored multiple peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Clinical Infectious Diseases, Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, and International Journal of Drug Policy. She has presented her work at national and international conferences and was recently awarded a fellowship with the International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU), aimed at strengthening the capacity of professionals working with women who use drugs. Her work is grounded in a commitment to reducing stigma surrounding substance use and infectious diseases and advancing evidence-based harm reduction strategies that improve health equity for people who use drugs.