معرفی
Caroline Jean Acker is an Associate Professor Emerita in the Department of History at Carnegie Mellon University, affiliated with the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, San Francisco (1993). Her research focuses on the history of medicine and public health, particularly opiate addiction in the U.S. since the late 19th century and the intersection of AIDS with drug policy. She previously directed a Miami-based drug information agency and held the DeWitt Stetten Jr. Memorial Fellowship (1993-1994). Her seminal work Creating the American Junkie examines addiction research during the establishment of drug prohibition policies. Acker collaborates with harm reduction organizations like Prevention Point Pittsburgh to improve HIV services for injection drug users.
Her courses include Medicine and Society, Drug Use and Drug Policy, and Ethics, History, and Public Policy. Notable publications span historical analyses of drug use, addiction regulation, and policy impacts. Awards include NIH fellowships recognizing her contributions to biomedical history.
Her work bridges academic research and community engagement, emphasizing marginalized populations’ voices in public health policy. She has advised multiple interdisciplinary projects linking historical scholarship with contemporary health challenges.
