Hannah Cooper, ScD, a prominent expert in the social determinants of drug use and drug-related harms, has been named the first Rollins Chair in Substance Use Disorders. Support for the endowed chair was provided by the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation. This is the 12th faculty position at the Rollins School of Public Health made possible through the generosity of the Rollins family.
Cooper is a professor and vice chair in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education at Rollins, co-director of the Prevention Science Core at the Emory Center for AIDS Research and director of Rollins’ Socio-Contextual Determinants of Health certificate program.
Cooper’s research primarily focuses on social determinants of HIV-related outcomes, particularly among people who use drugs. She currently leads five NIH-funded studies on these topics—including the CARE2HOPE project, which studies substance misuse and related harms among people who inject opioids in rural Kentucky. Her work has been cited in the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States and has been published in numerous preeminent journals including the American Journal of Public Health, the Journal of Urban Health and Social Science & Medicine.
“Hannah is a leading expert in substance abuse research who has devoted her career toward investigating the social determinants of drug use and drug-related health problems,” says James W. Curran, the James W. Curran Dean of Public Health at Rollins. “Through this endowment, she will expand Emory’s research efforts in this critical area and provide guidance for our partners and the greater public health community.”
Cooper received her bachelor’s from Yale, followed by her ScD in health and social behavior from Harvard, then completed her postdoctoral fellowship in drug use and HIV at the National Development and Research Institutes. Since joining Rollins in 2008, Cooper has gained the respect of colleagues and collaborators across the University. She was recognized for her outstanding leadership qualities with the Emory Williams Teaching Award in 2015.