Ayana Jordan, MD, PhD

My passion is conducting scholarly work dedicated to the elimination of health disparities for people with substance use disorders (SUDs), with a focus on racial and ethnic minoritized populations. My research is primarily focused on increasing access to evidence-based treatments for racial and ethnic minoritized patients with addiction and mental health disorders.

I am the endowed Barbara Wilson Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry, with a secondary appointment in Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. In my role as a physician scientist, I serve as the Principal Investigator (PI) of the Jordan Wellness Collaborative (JWC), a community participatory research group with the fundamental message of improving health outcomes for historically excluded populations through knowledge, skill acquisition and access expansion to culturally informed evidence-based treatments.

Currently, I serve as PI on an NIAAA sponsored R01 grant, conducting a randomized clinical trial (RCT) providing addiction treatment in a faith-based community setting compared to specialty clinic to determine ideal treatment for Black people with alcohol and other SUDs. I also serve as a PI on a NIDA sponsored R01 grant, conducting an RCT on participant initiation and engagement of harm reduction services among Black and Latine people who use drugs (PWUD) compared to services as usual in two mobile Community Harm Reduction Organizations, in the Bronx, NY and New Haven, CT. I am also mPI on a multi-site NIH-funded U01 collaborative RCT, studying the impact of providing medication for addiction treatment (MAT) via telehealth for Black and Latine people with opioid, alcohol and other SUD in Black and Latine churches compared to treatment in an addiction clinic. Lastly, I serve as the Contact mPI on an NCI sponsored UC2 grant, where I lead a health equity research hub which supports the advancement of community-driven and participatory research to reduce health inequities through a social determinants of health approach.

Recognizing the importance of bridging the gap between academia and community-based organizations, I have established relationships with several community-based organizations, including St. Ann’s Corner of Harm Reduction, OnPoint NYC, START Treatment and Recovery Centers, the HOPE Center, and Connecticut Harm Reduction Alliance. The central theme of equity has informed my research, clinical work and leadership duties at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and beyond, and I will continue to center these principles in my scholarship.