Hannah Knudsen, PhD
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hkknud2@uky.eduPositions
- Regular Faculty
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Biography and Education
Biography
Dr. Hannah Knudsen is a Professor in the Department of Behavioral Science, Director of Graduate Studies for the Department, and a faculty member within the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research. Trained as a sociologist, Dr. Knudsen’s research focuses on the implementation of evidence-based practices to improve the health of individuals with substance use disorders. Dr. Knudsen is currently involved in 9 extramurally funded projects. Much of her recent research has been conducted as part of the HEALing Communities Study (HCS). For UK’s $87 million HCS site, she led a team of implementation facilitators, who used implementation strategies to increase (a) uptake of overdose education and naloxone distribution in a range of organizations (e.g., primary care clinics, treatment programs, syringe service programs, homeless shelters, jails) and (b) the implementation of care navigation and peer recovery support through inter-organizational relationships between organizations that deliver medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and organizations that specialize in care navigation and peer recovery support. Dr. Knudsen routinely collaborates with colleagues at UK and other institutions on implementation science projects. She has published more than 165 peer-reviewed manuscripts. To support the Department's educational mission, Dr. Knudsen served previously as Director of Graduate Studies (2016-2019), as Associate Director of the Ruth L. Kirchstein Institutional Training Grant housed in the Department (2011-2021), as preceptor for a small group of first year medical students in the Introduction to Clinical Medicine I course (MD811), and course director for the graduate course, Methods and Technologies in Clinical and Translational Science (BSC731). In terms of service, Dr. Knudsen has routinely served as an ad-hoc member of NIH grant review panels, as a planning committee member for the Addiction Health Services Research Conference, and was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment for a three-year term.
Education
PhD in Sociology, University of Georgia, 2003
Research
Dr. Knudsen’s research focuses on organizations that serve people with substance use disorders (SUD) and, more specifically, the implementation of evidence-based practices (EBPs). Drawing on perspectives within implementation science, much of her early research focused on the adoption and implementation of evidence-based practices in specialty SUD treatment organizations with consideration of how organizational characteristics and the external policy environment were related to EBP uptake. As Principal Investigator, she has conducted studies of buprenorphine treatment in the US, the implementation of smoking cessation interventions in SUD treatment, the adoption of medications in publicly funded SUD treatment organizations, and the quality of adolescent-only SUD treatment in the US. She has worked as a Co-Investigator on projects that have sought to improve services for individuals involved in the legal system, to increase organizational capacity to prescribe medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), and to increase access to SUD-related services in HIV/AIDS service organizations. More recently, she has been working to design implementation strategies to increase the uptake of overdose education with naloxone distribution in a diverse range of organizational settings and to increase retention in MOUD.
Selected Publications
Knudsen, H. K., Batty, E., Staton, M., Traxler, H., & Oser, C. B. (2026). History of naloxone possession among rural and urban individuals participating in prison-based treatment: An observational study. Substance Use & Addiction Journal. Epub ahead of print (Jan 7). https://doi.org/10.1177/29767342251401705. PMC12893116.
Knudsen, H. K., Fallin-Bennett, A., Fanucchi, L., Lofwall, M. R., McGladrey, M., Oser, C. B., Biggers, G., Ross, A., Chadwell, J., & Walsh, S. L. (2026). Increasing initiation of medications for opioid use disorder through recovery coaches: The role of implementation setting. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 20, 15-21. https://doi.org/10.1097/ADM.0000000000001482. PMC12498110.
Knudsen, H. K., Rockett, M., & Oser, C. B. (2025). Willingness to receive medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD): A longitudinal analysis of social network support for MOUD. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 277, 112966. PMC12662419.
Knudsen, H. K., Havens, J. R., & Young, A. M. Acceptability and appropriateness of harm reduction vending machines compared to syringe service programs in Appalachian Kentucky. (2025). Journal of Studies on Alcohol & Drugs. Epub ahead of print (2025 Aug 1). https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.25-00120 PMC12498109.
Knudsen, H. K., Gotham, H. J., Solinger, E., Swan, E., Brinker, J., Patel, S. V., Tueller, S. J., Bradshaw, M., Mungo, J., Philbrick, S., Donohoe, T., Freese, T. E., Rutkowski, B., Roosa, M. R., Speck, K. J., & Garner, B.R. (2025). Dissemination of an evidence-based motivational interviewing brief intervention for substance use disorders to HIV service organizations across the United States Protocol for a national-level cluster-randomized adaptive parallel-groups superiority experiment. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 20, 85. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13722-025-00612-8. PMC12548271.
Knudsen, H. K., Andrews-Higgins, S., Back-Haddix, S., Lofwall, M. R., Fanucchi, L., & Walsh, S. L. (2025). Barriers and facilitators to scaling up medications for opioid use disorders in Kentucky: Qualitative perspectives of treatment organization staff. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy. 20, 15.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13011-025-00644-y. PMC11963284.
Knudsen, H. K., Back-Haddix, S., Andrews-Higgins, S., Goetz, M., Davis, O. A., Oyler, D., Walsh, S. L., & Freeman, P. R. (2025). Organizational perspectives on the impacts of scaling up overdose education and naloxone distribution in Kentucky. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 20, 27. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13722-025-00553-2. PMC11907800.
Knudsen, H. K., Walker, D. M., Mack, N., Kinnard, E. N., Huerta, T. R., Glasgow, L., Gilbert, L., Garner, B. R., Dasgupta, A., Chandler, R., Walsh, S. L., Tin, Y., Tan, S., Joel Sprunger, Sprague-Martinez, L., Saucier, M., Rudorf, M., Rodriguez, S., Oser, C. B., Oga, E., Nakayima, J., Linas, B. S., Lefebvre, R. C., Kosakowski, S., Katz, R. E., Hunt, T., Holman, A., Holloway, J., Goddard-Eckrich, D., Fareed, N., Christopher, M., Aldrich, A., Adams, J. W., & Drainoni, M. (2024). Reducing perceived barriers to scaling up overdose education and naloxone distribution and medications for opioid use disorder in the HEALing Communities Study. Preventive Medicine, 185, 108034. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2024.108034.
Davis, A., Knudsen, H. K., Walker, D. M., Chassler, D., Lunze, K., Westgate, P. M., Oga, E., Rodriguez, S., Tan, S., Holloway, J., Walsh, S. L., Oser, C. B., Lefebvre, R. C., Fanucchi, L. C., Glasgow, L., McAlearney, A. S., Surratt, H. L., Konstan, M. W., Huang, T. T. K., LeBaron, P., Nakayima, J., Stein, M. D., Rudorf, M., Nouvong, M., Kinnard, E. N., El-Bassel, N., Tilley, J., Macoubray, A., Savitzky, C., Farmer, A., Beers, D., Salsberry, P., & Huerta, T. R. (2024). Effects of the Communities that HEAL (CTH) intervention on perceived opioid-related community stigma in the HEALing Communities Study: Results of a multi-site, community-level, cluster-randomized trial. The Lancet Regional Health-Americas, 32, 100710. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2024.100710. PMC10950860.
Knudsen, H. K., Freeman, P. R., Oyler, D. R., Oser, C. B., & Walsh, S. L. (2023). Scaling up overdose education and naloxone distribution in Kentucky: A “hub with many spokes” model. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 18, 72. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13722-023-00426-6.
Knudsen, H. K., & Havens, J. R. (2021). Using conjoint analysis to study health policy changes: An example from a cohort of persons who use drugs. International Journal of Drug Policy, 98, 103425. PMC8671200.
Knudsen, H. K., Brown, R., Jacobson, N., Horst, J., Kim, J., Madden, L. M., Haram, E., & Molfenter, T. (2021). Prescribers’ satisfaction with delivering medications for opioid use disorder. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 16, 78. DOI: 10.1186/s13011-021-00413-7. PMC8521499.
Knudsen, H. K., Lin, L., & Lofwall, M. R. (2020). Adoption of the 275-patient buprenorphine treatment waiver for opioid use disorder: A state-level longitudinal analysis. Substance Abuse, 41(2), 259-268. PMC6954348.
Knudsen, H. K., Lofwall, M. R., Lin, L., Walsh, S. L., & Studts, J. L. (2019). US physicians’ decision-making during buprenorphine-naloxone treatment: Conjoint analyses of dose and office visit adjustments based on patient progress. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 204, Article No. 107490. PMC6910718.
Knudsen, H. K., Brown, R., Jacobson, N., Horst, J. Kim, J. Collier, E., Starr, S. Madden, L. M., Haram, E., Toy, A. & Molfenter, T. (2019). Physicians’ satisfaction with providing buprenorphine treatment. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 14(1):34. doi: 10.1186/s13722-019-0163-3. PMC6709557.
Lin, L., Lofwall, M. R., Walsh, S. L., & Knudsen, H. K. (2019). Perceived need and availability of psychosocial treatment by US buprenorphine prescribers. Addictive Behaviors, 93, 72-77. PMC6488400.
Knudsen, H. K., Brown, R., Jacobson, N., Horst, J., Kim, J., Collier, E., Starr, S., Madden, L. M., Haram, E., & Molfenter, T. (2019). Pharmacotherapy, resource needs, and physician recruitment in specialty substance use disorder treatment organizations. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 13, 28-34. PMC6349477.
Knudsen, H. K., Lofwall, M. R., Walsh, S. L., & Havens, J. R. (2019). Impact of health reform on changes in health insurance status among persons who use drugs in eastern Kentucky: A prospective cohort analysis. International Journal of Drug Policy, 70, 8-14. PMC6682430.
Knudsen, H. K., Lofwall, M. R., Walsh, S. L., Havens, J. R. & Studts, J. L. (2018). Physicians’ decision-making when implementing buprenorphine with new patients: Conjoint analyses in a cohort of current prescribers. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 12, 31-39. PMC5786469.
Knudsen, H. K., Havens, J. R., Lofwall, M. R., Studts, J. L., & Walsh, S. L. (2017). Buprenorphine physician supply: Relationship with state-level prescription opioid mortality. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 173, S55-S64. PMC5584581.
Knudsen, H. K., Cook, J., Lofwall, M. R., Walsh, S. L., Studts, J. L., & Havens, J. R. (2017). A mixed methods study of HIV-related services in buprenorphine treatment. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy. 12, 37. DOI: 10.1186/s13011-017-0122-5. PMC5559779.
Knudsen, H. K. Implementation of smoking cessation treatment in substance use disorder treatment settings: A review. (2017). The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 43, 215-225.
Knudsen, H. K., & Roman, P. M. (2016). The diffusion of acamprosate for the treatment of alcohol use disorder: A national longitudinal study. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 62, 62-67. NIHMS739753.
Knudsen, H. K. (2015). The supply of physicians waivered to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorders in the United States: A state-level analysis. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 76, 644-654. PMC4495082.
Knudsen, H. K., & Roman, P. M. (2015). Innovation attributes and adoption decisions: Perspectives from leaders of a national sample of SUD organizations. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 49, 1-7. PMC4277913.
Knudsen, H. K., & Roman, P. M. (2014). Dissemination, adoption, and implementation of acamprosate for treating alcohol use disorders. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 75, 467-475. PMC4002860.
Knudsen, H. K, & Roman, P. M. (2014). The transition to medication adoption in publicly funded treatment substance use disorder treatment programs: Organizational structure, culture, and resources. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 75, 475-485. PMC4002861.
Knudsen, H. K., Muilenburg, J. L., & Eby, L. T. (2013). Sustainment of smoking cessation programs in substance use disorder treatment organizations. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 15, 1060-1068. PMC3646650.
Knudsen, H. K., Roman, P. M., & Abraham, A. J. (2013). Quality of clinical supervision and counselor emotional exhaustion: The mediating roles of organizational and occupational commitment. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 44, 528-533. PMC3602390.
Knudsen, H. K., & Abraham, A. J. (2012). The employment of nurses in publicly funded substance abuse treatment programs. Journal of Addictions Nursing, 23, 174-180. PMC3877938.
Knudsen, H. K., Abraham, A. J., Oser, C. B., & Roman, P. M. (2012). Physicians in the substance abuse treatment workforce: Understanding their employment within publicly funded treatment organizations. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 43, 152-160. PMC3345304.