Research
About Research in Family and Community Medicine
The division of research is part of the department of family and community medicine at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine. We engage in a robust portfolio of scholarly activities including education and clinical, behavioral, and practice-based research. Research and educational programs have been supported through funding from the Health Research and Services Administration (HRSA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and private foundations.
The department is also home to the Kentucky Ambulatory Network (KAN), a practice-based research network founded in 2000. KAN has completed several studies and continues to collaborate with organizations within Kentucky and across state lines.
Our research is engaged with collaborators spanning various fields, including public health, health information technology, and basic sciences. We partner with our communities to assist in bringing solutions to issues that need to be resolved within the communities. Community engagement is an important approach to much of the work we do in collaboration with community-based organizations.
We appreciate and look forward to opportunities to work with our colleagues and communities.
Vice Chair for Research
Dr. Koffarnus is director of the Healthier Futures Lab and an associate professor and vice chair for research in the department of family and community medicine. He received his BA degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire and completed both his MS and PhD degrees in biopsychology from the University of Michigan. Dr. Koffarnus also completed an internship and pre-doctoral fellowship at the National Institute on Drug Abuse before completing his post-doctoral fellowship in the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit at Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Koffarnus is a leading expert on environmental factors that contribute to alcohol and tobacco use, specifically the use of contingency management for decreasing substance use. Dr. Koffarnus is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and currently serves on the editorial board for the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, and Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.
Click here to view his full publication list.