Fatema Z. Ahmed, PhD

I am a Post-Doctoral Scholar at the University of Central Florida in the School of Global Health Informatics & Management. My research interests include health policy and health services research, with a particular focus on substance use disorder in vulnerable populations. My current research examines the effects of state Medicaid policy on the planned utilization of medications for opioid use disorder among individuals referred to specialty substance use disorder treatment facilities by the criminal justice system. This research was funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) and UCF's College of Graduate Studies through the Doctoral Research Support Award and the Graduate Dean's Dissertation Completion Fellowship. 

Additionally, I am actively engaged in other research projects with The Substance Use Policy Evaluation and Research (SUPER) workgroup. Specifically, I am involved in projects funded by Florida Office of the State Courts Administrator examining implementation of evidence-based treatments for substance use disorder in Family Dependency Drug Courts and another study evaluating the beliefs, norms, barriers, and policies about medications for opioid use disorder in Florida problem solving courts. 

Research Areas & Interests: 

Health policy | Criminal Justice | Substance Use | Vulnerable populations

Quasi-experimental analysis | Mixed methodology