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Hannah Knudsen

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(859) 323-3947
hkknud2@uky.edu
Robert Straus Behavioral Science Laboratory

Positions

  • Regular Faculty

College Unit(s)

Biography and Education

Biography

Dr. Hannah Knudsen is a Professor in the Department of Behavioral Science 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 federally funded projects, including the HEALing Communities Study (HCS). For UK’s $87 million HCS site, she currently leads a team of 9 implementation facilitators, who are using 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. She has published more than 130 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Dr. Knudsen has served 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 on the impact of the Affordable Care Act on 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., 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., Hartman, J., & Walsh, S. L. (2022). The effect of Medicaid expansion on state-level utilization of buprenorphine for opioid use disorder in the United States. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 232, 109336. PMC8885876.

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), 259-268PMC6954348.

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., & Studts, J. L. (2019). Physicians as mediators of health policy: Acceptance of Medicaid in the context of buprenorphine treatment. Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 46, 151-163. PMC6324979.

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., & Studts, J. L. (2017). Perceived impacts of the Affordable Care Act: Perspectives of buprenorphine prescribers. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 49, 111-121. PMC5572769.

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., Lofwall, M. R., Havens, J. R., & Walsh, S. L. (2015). States’ implementation of the Affordable Care Act and the supply of physicians waivered to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid dependence. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 157, 36-43. NIHMS729346.

Knudsen, H. K., & Roman, P. M. (2015). Medicaid, private insurance, and the availability of smoking cessation interventions in substance use disorder treatment. Psychiatric Services, 66, 1213-1220. NIHMS695058.

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., Staton-Tindall, M., Oser, C. B., Havens, J. R., & Leukefeld, C. G. (2014). Reducing risky relationships: A multi-site randomized trial of a prison-based intervention for reducing HIV sexual risk behaviors among women with a history of drug use. AIDS Care, 26, 1071-1079. PMC4065193.

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.

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