Education
PhD, Sociology, Stony Brook UniversityMA, Sociology, St. John’s University
BA, Philosphy, University of California, Riverside
Research Interests
Medical sociology, social determinants of health, substance use, intersectional stigma, gender, sexualities, HIV/AIDS, social networks BIO
Suzan Walters is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Epidemiology in the Department of Population Health at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and an affiliated researcher at the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research at New York University (NYU). She has completed two postdoctoral fellowships focused on interdisciplinary drug use research: the Behavioral Sciences Training in Drug Abuse Research program at NYU and the Interdisciplinary Research and Training Institute on Hispanic Drug Use at the University of Southern California. Her mixed-methods research focuses on the social and structural determinants of health among drug using populations. In particular she focuses on awareness, knowledge and access to biomedical interventions as part of larger social processes of exclusion. Her current K01 grant focuses on how intersectional stigma experiences affect health outcomes among people who use drugs. She has worked as an ethnographer for the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System, a program director for the Center for the Study of Men and Masculinities, and a research fellow for AIDS Foundation Chicago. Her research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, American Sociological Association, Sociologists for Women and Society, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, Sociology AIDS Network, and Stony Brook University. Projects
Principal Investigator, Community-Driven Exploration of PrEP, Harm Reduction, and OPC Service Use among Spanish-Speaking People Who Inject Drugs in NYC. Active
Principal Investigator, Intersectional Stigma Experiences, Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), and Other Service Use Among People Who Inject Drugs. Active
Principal Investigator, Feasibility of PrEP for Persons Who Inject Drugs. Completed
Principal Investigator, Qualitative Assessment of the First Government Sanctioned Overdose Prevention Center in the United States. Completed
Publications
Recent
Fredericksen RJ, Mixson LS, Estadt AT, Leichtling G, Bresett J, Zule W, Walters SM, Friedmann PD, Romo E, Whitney BM, Delaney JAC, Crane HM, Tsui JI, Young A, Seal D, Stopka TJ (2024).
Barriers to retention in inpatient and residential drug treatment among persons who use opioids and/or injection drugs living in the rural U.S.
Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, 165, 209453. doi: 10.1016/j.josat.2024.209453. PMCID: PMC11347080.
Barriers to retention in inpatient and residential drug treatment among persons who use opioids and/or injection drugs living in the rural U.S.
Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, 165, 209453. doi: 10.1016/j.josat.2024.209453. PMCID: PMC11347080.
Jenkins WD, Miller KW, Tillewein H, Walters S, Weatherly T, Wickham H, Luckey G, Fenner E (2024).
Healthcare experiences and health outcomes among rural LGBTQ+ individuals
American Journal of Health Promotion, 38 (7), 954-959. doi: 10.1177/08901171241240814..
Healthcare experiences and health outcomes among rural LGBTQ+ individuals
American Journal of Health Promotion, 38 (7), 954-959. doi: 10.1177/08901171241240814..
Walters SM, Baker R, Frank D, Fadanelli M, Rudolph AE, Zule W, Fredericksen RJ, Bolinski R, Sibley AL, Go VF, Ouellet LJ, Pho MT, Seal DW, Feinberg J, Smith G, Young AM, Stopka TJ (2024).
Strategies used to reduce harms associated with fentanyl exposure among rural people who use drugs: Multi-site qualitative findings from the rural opioid initiative
Harm Reduction Journal, 21 (1), 154. doi: 10.1186/s12954-024-01062-2. PMCID: PMC11344336.
Strategies used to reduce harms associated with fentanyl exposure among rural people who use drugs: Multi-site qualitative findings from the rural opioid initiative
Harm Reduction Journal, 21 (1), 154. doi: 10.1186/s12954-024-01062-2. PMCID: PMC11344336.
Chong N, Azwa I, Hassan AA, Mousavi ME, Wong PL, Ng RX, Saifi R, Basri S, Omar SFS, Walters SM, Collier ZK, Haddad MS, Altice FL, Kamarulzaman A, Earnshaw VA (2024).
HIV Activist Identity, Commitment, and Orientation Scale (HAICOS): Psychometric evaluation to assess clinician’s propensity towards HIV activism in Malaysia
AIDS and Behavior, 28 (8), 2780-2792. doi: 10.1007/s10461-024-04381-4.
HIV Activist Identity, Commitment, and Orientation Scale (HAICOS): Psychometric evaluation to assess clinician’s propensity towards HIV activism in Malaysia
AIDS and Behavior, 28 (8), 2780-2792. doi: 10.1007/s10461-024-04381-4.
Jenkins WD, Walters S, Phillips G, Green K, Fenner E, Bolinski R, Spenner A, Luckey G (2024).
Stigma, mental health, and health care use among rural sexual and gender minority individuals
Health Education and Behavior, 51 (3), 477-489. doi: 10.1177/10901981221120393. PMCID: PMC10064479.
Dr. Walters' Google Scholar Profile
Stigma, mental health, and health care use among rural sexual and gender minority individuals
Health Education and Behavior, 51 (3), 477-489. doi: 10.1177/10901981221120393. PMCID: PMC10064479.
Selected Press