Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute

Caleb Banta-Green PhD, MPH, MSW

Dr. Banta-Green is the director of the UW Center for Community-Engaged Drug Education, Epidemiology and Research (CEDEER) at ADAI, Acting Professor at the UW Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute, and mentors graduate students at the UW School of Public Health. His main area of research is substance use disorders involving opioids and stimulants and interventions to support recovery and reduce substance-related harms. He is particularly interested in developing interventions that are accessible to all people, including those who are most marginalized, such as those who are unhoused, utilizing harm reduction services, or in the criminal legal system. He provides technical assistance and evaluation services for public health and safety interventions including the website http://stopoverdose.org, and information for the general public and professionals about effective treatments at http://learnabouttreatment.org.

Dr. Banta-Green is an epidemiologist and reports drug trends across WA State, with data available online http://adai.uw.edu/wadata/, has been the Seattle area representative to the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s drug epidemiology work group since 2001, and partners with state and local agencies on drug epidemiology tracking and reporting.

Dr. Banta-Green has an MSW, an MPH, and a PhD in Health Services Research from the School of Public Health, all from the UW. He serves on several local, state, and federal workgroups and committees related to epidemiology, policy, and interventions for those who use illicit substances. He is a member of the U.S. Health and Human Service’s Interdepartmental Substance Use Disorders Coordinating Committee. He served as senior science advisor for the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the Executive Office of the President in 2012.

Dr. Banta-Green is interviewed regularly by local and national news media about substance use, drug trends, and effective interventions.

Titles

Acting Professor, Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, UW School of Medicine
Director, Center for Community-Engaged Drug Education, Epidemiology and Research (CEDEER)

Education

PhD, Public Health, University of Washington
MPH, Public Health, University of Washington
MSW, Social Work, University of Washington
BA, Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz

Research Interests

  • Drug treatment outcomes — impact of access to treatment and drug use characteristics
  • Public health law research
  • Opioid overdose prevention and intervention — individual and community level
  • Health services research — linked state health, health care utilization and arrest data
  • Testing new models of community based care for people who use illicit substances
  • Epidemiological measures of drug use in rural and urban settings
  • Development of novel drug epidemiology tools
  • Drug-caused morbidity and mortality, e.g., infectious disease, drug overdoses
  • Youth use of opioids and stimulants

Honors

  • Banta-Green, Wiseman, LofyWashington State Public Health Leadership Award, 2016. The award was presented by Washington Secretary of Health John Wiesman acknowledging Banta-Green as “a leader who turns data into action,” “collaborates and builds bridges,” and “understands equity and health disparities.” Photo: Wiesman, Banta-Green, and State Health Officer Kathy Lofy.
  • Public Health-Seattle & King County: Enhancing the Field Award, 2006
  • Friend of Pharmacy Award, Washington State Pharmacy Association, 2017
  • Community Connector Award, WA State Recovery Help Line, 2018

Activities

  • Senior Science Advisor, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Executive Office of the President, July-December 2012.
  • Numerous interviews for news organizations on selected topics of expertise
  • Technical Editor, Assessing Drug Abuse Within and Across Communities, Community Epidemiology Surveillance Networks on Drug Abuse (2nd Edition), NIDA, 2006. (pub. no. 06-3614)
  • Reviewer, American Journal of Public Health (2010-present); Addiction (2010-present); Drug and Alcohol Dependence (2008-present); Clinical Journal of Pain, (2008-present); Environmental Science & Technology (2007-present); Contemporary Clinical Trials (2009)

News

Research & Other Projects

Olympia Bupe Clinic Evaluation

Status: completed

Recovery Café Evaluation

Status: completed