Abenaa Jones’s research goal is to develop evidence-based interventions that reduce substance use and co-occurring health and social consequences among marginalized and vulnerable communities. She studies the social and structural determinants of substance use among vulnerable populations. Specifically, her work has focused on syndemic factors associated with drug addiction such as victimization, risky sexual behaviors, and HIV/STIs, as well as evaluating structural interventions (i.e., judicial interventions, policies) and behavioral interventions aimed to reduce substance use and associated syndemic factors.
Jones’s earlier work examined the intersectionality of substance use, violence, and HIV/AIDS, termed the SAVA syndemic among women in a Municipal Drug Court System in St. Louis, an alternative to incarceration program. Her current work focuses on the opioid epidemic and examines racial differences in opioid overdose educational training and administration of overdose reversal drugs, the prevalence of opioid use in inner cities, and racial/ethnic differences in opioid use.
Jones earned her bachelor’s degree in public and community health from the University of Maryland-College Park and her Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Florida. She completed postdoctoral fellowships in the departments of health behavior and society and mental health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University.