معرفی
Dr. Stephen E. Lankenau is a Professor and Director of the Medical Cannabis Research Center at Drexel University's Department of Community Health and Prevention. His work integrates public health and sociology to address substance use disorders, mental health outcomes, and urban health disparities through mixed-methods research.
His educational background includes:
- PhD in Sociology, University of Maryland
- MA in Sociology, University of Maryland
- BA in Sociology, University of Vermont
Dr. Lankenau's research centers on substance use epidemiology, particularly cannabis and opioid-related behaviors, with emphasis on mental health comorbidities, overdose prevention, and recovery processes in urban populations. His methodology combines longitudinal cohort studies with qualitative analysis to examine health outcomes including homelessness, HIV/AIDS transmission, and trauma responses. Current projects investigate medical cannabis efficacy for chronic pain and PTSD, while exploring social determinants of substance use patterns among marginalized communities.
His 2022-2024 publications reveal three dominant research trajectories: (1) cannabis policy impacts following legalization, (2) trauma-cannabis use mediation mechanisms, and (3) digital health interventions for overdose response. These works span public health, substance abuse epidemiology, and computational social science, frequently employing social network analysis and mixed-methods frameworks to address real-world policy questions.
No scientific awards were mentioned in the provided text.
Dr. Lankenau teaches graduate courses in research proposal design, qualitative methodology, and substance use theory. He directs major federally funded projects including Pennsylvania's medical cannabis patient registry, a 11-year longitudinal study of young adult cannabis users in Los Angeles (2013-2024), and the UnityPhilly real-time naloxone deployment system. His grants focus on community-engaged research with direct public health implementation.
He leads Drexel's Medical Cannabis Research Center and co-directs the UnityPhilly initiative, which coordinates volunteer first responders through mobile technology to address opioid overdoses across Philadelphia.
