Loren Deborah Ginn

Loren Deborah Ginn is a PhD student in the College of Social Work at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She earned her Bachelor of Social Work from Middle Tennessee State University and her Master of Science in Social Work from UTK, and is a Licensed Master Social Worker.

Loren’s work centers on structurally vulnerable populations, and the intersection of substance use disorder and infectious disease. She is currently Program Director for the HRSA Rural Opioid and Alcohol Medication (ROAM) Project in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Meharry Medical College, where she leads study design, data management, and reporting for substance use and hepatits C outcomes. Her recent research applies implementation science frameworks, including the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) and Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) to examine stigma and structural barriers in a jail-based buprenorphine program in rural Appalachia. 

She also leads qualitative analysis for a CDC funded project examining the integration of PrEP within syringe service programs. She has presented this work at the Harm Reduction International Conference in Bogota, Colombia and the Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance Use and Addiction, and her research has been published in the Harm Reduction Journal and the Journal of Correctional Health Care.

Alongside her doctoral studies, Loren serves as a Project Manager for the Camellia Foundation’s Department of Research and Evaluation, as well as Lead Evaluator for HUSTLE Recovery, a statewide recovery housing network. She sits on the Board of the National Institute for Behavioral Health.