West Virginia University and Johns Hopkins Rural Health Convos: Substance Abuse
Interested in learning more about rural public health? Looking for new research collaborations? As part of a new Rural Health Initiative series, West Virginia University School of Public Health is partnering with the Office of Research at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (research@BSPH) to host a series of virtual discussions between investigators on rural health topics of mutual interest. The goal of these discussions is to highlight important areas of overlap and opportunity between WVU and BSPH in support of a recently announced research partnership between the Schools to advance joint solutions for shared challenges. All levels of experience and interest in rural health research are welcome.
Join this inaugural discussion on July 16, 2026, at noon via Zoom, to hear Gordon Smith, Stuart M. and Joyce N. Robbins Distinguished Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, WVU School of Public Health, and Sean Allen, associate professor in Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, discuss their experiences working with patients who use substances in rural areas and potential areas for future research projects.
West Virginia and Baltimore have some of the highest overdose death rates in the U.S., making both areas prime locations for public health intervention and research.
To learn more, register at the link below. Please email BSPH.research@jh.edu with any questions.
Featured Speakers
Gordon Smith, MD, MB, MBChB, MPH
Stuart M. and Joyce N. Robbins Distinguished Professor, School of Public Health, West Virginia University
Gordon S. Smith MD, MPH is the Stuart M. and Joyce N. Robbins Distinguished Professor, at the WVU School of Public Health in Morgantown. He has worked in multiple settings including CDC, Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, developing countries, and studying drugs and trauma at University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. In West Virginia, he works on medical examiner analyses of drug deaths, drug-related infections, and other complications of substance use including overdoses in rural communities. Current projects are directed at identifying preventable causes of drug overdoses, including why drug use is so much more fatal in West Virginia, mapping of overdose locations in rural southern coalfield counties, and how county spending is related to overdoses. He is also part of WaTCH-WV which tests wastewater from rural communities for COVID-19 and other pathogens with plans to expand into testing wastewater for drugs.
Sean Allen, DrPH, MPH
Associate Professor, Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Sean T. Allen, DrPH, MPH, is an endowed Bloomberg Associate Professor of American Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His work focuses on addiction, overdose, harm reduction, drug policy and infectious disease prevention among people who use drugs, with particular attention to rural communities. Across his career, Dr. Allen has led numerous studies focused on the public health needs of rural populations of people who use drugs. He currently leads a NIDA-funded cohort study examining HIV risk modifiers among people who inject drugs in West Virginia and a collaborative project with rural American Indian communities focused on understanding the implementation of overdose and infectious disease prevention programs.