Danielle Nestadt

Danielle Nestadt, PhD, MSW, MPH, is an Assistant Scientist at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Department of Health, Behavior and Society. Her work focuses on social/structural determinants of health among marginalized populations, particularly women in sex work and people who use drugs. She emphasizes HIV/overdose prevention through community-based interventions in Baltimore and international settings. Nestadt holds a PhD from Johns Hopkins (2022), MSW from University of Maryland (2015), and MPH from Columbia University (2011).

Research interests include empowerment, PrEP access, drug checking, and quantitative methods like latent class analysis. Her recent work combines person-centered approaches with strengths-based frameworks to address systemic inequities. Current projects include mobile overdose prevention initiatives and expanding harm reduction services for drug-using populations.

Publications span topics from sex workers’ agency to family-based interventions for HIV-positive adolescents. She leads projects such as the ‘Check It’ overdose prevention initiative and the REFLEX study on xylazine’s effects. Nestadt’s mixed methods approach bridges qualitative insights with statistical rigor to inform public health policy.