Hale Thompson

Hale Thompson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Behavior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health. He also holds concurrent appointments as a Scientist at UAB’s Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research and Education (COERE) and Center for AIDS Research. Thompson holds a PhD in Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research focuses on health informatics, LGBTQ+ health equity, substance use disorders, and machine learning applications in healthcare.

Key professional roles include service as an Associate Editor since October 2021 and leadership in the Substance Use Intervention Team (SUIT), an interdisciplinary initiative improving care for patients with substance use disorders. His work emphasizes transgender health data standardization in electronic health records (EHRs), clinical decision support systems, and reducing health disparities through AI-driven solutions.

Research interests span mental health interventions for marginalized populations, opioid and alcohol misuse screening via machine learning, and pandemic impacts on healthcare access. Over 27 peer-reviewed articles highlight his contributions to LGBTQ+ healthcare equity, EHR data collection challenges, and improving hospital-based substance use interventions. Thompson collaborates across academic and clinical settings to bridge gaps between research, policy, and clinical practice.