Elizabeth Evans

I research how health care systems and public policies can better promote health and wellness among vulnerable and underserved populations, particularly for individuals at risk for opioid and other substance use disorders. My current research focuses on how the criminal justice system can impact health outcomes. I lead the following projects:

• Massachusetts HIV and Justice-Involved Populations Research Network. NIH NIDA R61/R33 DA060588. mPIs: Wurcel and Evans. 5/15/24 – 4/30/29.
• Massachusetts Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (Mass JCOIN). NIH NIDA UG1DA050067. mPIs: Friedmann and Evans. 9/1/19 – 8/30/24, with NCE through 8/30/26.
• Chicopee and Holyoke Access to Treatment and Services (CHATS) Project. DOJ BJA FY 2023 Field Initiated: Encouraging Innovation. Evaluation PI: Evans. 10/1/23-9/30/26.
• HEALing Franklin County. SAMHSA FOA :TI-21-006. Evaluation PI: Evans. 09/30/21 – 09/29/26.
• Involuntary substance use disorder treatment in Massachusetts: Impacts on fatal and nonfatal opioid-related overdoses. PI: Bovell-Ammon. Co-Is: Yan, Evans, Evans, Friedmann, LaRochelle, Walley, Bagley, Ventura.  2/1/24-7/1/25.
• Health Economics Seminar Series. UMass Office of Faculty Development, Mutual Mentoring Grant. PI: Wang. Co-I: Evans. 6/1/24-5/30/25.

Community Engagement

• UMass Amherst Spotlight Scholar
• The Greenwall Foundation Big Data and Ethics Scholar
• UMass Amherst Distinguished Community Engagement Award for Research, Awardee
• Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR), Scholar
• Center for Community Health Equity Research, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Fellow
• UMass Chan Medical School Community Research Innovative Scholars Program (CRISP), Awardee
• UMass Amherst Public Engagement Project (PEP), Fellow
• UMass Chan Medical School Institute for Healthcare Delivery and Population Science, Adjunct Fellow

Media

UMass News

• New Study Will Provide HIV Prevention and Treatment for Incarcerated People with Opioid Use Disorder
• UMass Public Health Researchers Will Assess New Courts Program to Provide Treatment to People with Substance Use Disorders
• Opioid Overdoses Among Incarcerated People May Be Reduced by Improving Release Process and Treatment Continuity
• Massachusetts Jails Found ‘Innovative Solutions’ for Incarcerated Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder
• Baystate Medical Center and UMass Amherst Collaboration Demonstrates Benefit of In-jail Buprenorphine Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder
• $2.6 Million Grant Will Fund Trauma Treatment for People with Addiction in Franklin County Jail
• Study: Big Data Saves Lives, And Patient Safeguards Are Needed
• UMass Amherst Researcher Explores Barriers of Access and Acceptability for Medical Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder
• UMass Researchers Receive $10 Million Grant To Study Jail-based Opioid Addiction Treatment Program
• Study Finds Treatment with Medication Reduces Arrests and Incarceration Among People with Opioid Use Disorder
• Grant Funds Opioid Addiction Treatment in Two County Jails

In the media

• NIDA News Release (Jan. 18, 2022). Offering buprenorphine medication to people with opioid use disorder in jail may reduce rearrest and reconviction.
• The HEAL Initiative (Aug 5, 2020). "Statewide Policy Changes in Massachusetts Could Lead to New Hope for Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder in Jails Nationwide," retrieved from https://www.jcoinctc.org/massachusetts-hub-spotlight/
• "Opioid Treatment in Mass. Jails Pilot Program Study" Connecting Point, Sept. 3, 2019 (WGBY Television)
• UMass researchers land $10M grant to run jail treatment pilot (Daily Hampshire Gazette)