In 2022, I co-authored a manuscript with faculty from the Center for Mental Health and School of Nursing at Penn (Drs. Rebecca Stewart, David Mandell, and Rachel French), the research team at the federally-qualified health center, Philadelphia FIGHT (Emily Loscalzo, Winna Koe Mowenn, Ali Tarhini, Linden Lalley Chareczko), and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (Dr. Katheleen Brady) on the first inquiry of vending machines for harm reduction in Philadelphia.
TL;DR: Vending machines for harm reduction could increase access to life-saving materials for people living with HIV or injection drug users. We interviewed a diverse sample including, clinic leadership and staff, community members, and persons with lived experience with drug use. The interviewees mostly accepted the idea of these machines but cautioned against backlash from the community.
Link to publication in Harm Reduction Journal
In June, 2022 my co-authors flew out to the 84th Annual Scientific Meeting of The College on Problems of Drug Dependence to present a poster on our preliminary findings.
Press release from the Penn Leonard David Institute on our publication