Distinguished Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California
Ricky N. Bluthenthal, Ph.D. is a Distinguished Professor of Population and Public Health Sciences and Chair of the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. He is also the Flora L. Thornton Chair in Preventive Medicine. He received a BA in History and Sociology from the University of California Santa Cruz and a MA and PhD in sociology from the University of California Berkeley. His research has established the effectiveness of syringe exchange programs, tested novel interventions and strategies to reduce HIV risk and improve HIV testing among injection drug users and men who have sex with men, documented how community conditions contribute to health disparities, and examined health policy implementation. His current studies include an observational cohort study of how cannabis legalization impacts use patterns and health outcomes of cannabis and opioids among people who inject drugs and a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of a single session intervention to reduce injection initiation risk behaviors among established people who inject drugs. Dr. Bluthenthal has authored or co-authored over 200 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals such as the American Journal of Public Health, Social Science and Medicine, The Lancet, Addiction, and Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research among others. He is on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Drug Policy and the Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
Related Web Forums
Hear public health and community leaders, including Megan Black of Merced County Department of Public Health and Sol Rivas of Valley Onward, share how their partnership began, what they’ve learned, and how trust and a shared vision help collaboration last beyond funding cycles.
Watch Recording
In this Web Forum, hear from Brooke Briggance, Director of Cypress Resilience Project, and learn how to identify moral distress and to make space for the complicated feelings surrounding wounds to our values.
Join the Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health to explore how systems-level approaches and adaptive leadership can improve support for youth in high-risk environments. Learn how policy, structural, and environmental factors influence behavioral health and how cross-sector collaboration advances primary prevention.
Watch Recording
Join the Leadership Academy for the Public's Health for a Web Forum on the CDC's Lead-Free Communities Toolkit. Learn how it supports community-based lead prevention, see a real-world example in action, and gain practical insights on program planning, implementation, and sustainability.
Watch Recording
In this conversation with Dr. Judy Monroe, who worked with Dr. William Foege at the CDC, we will explore the principles that guided his public health work and reflect on what they mean for public health today in an environment that is testing our ability to do our work.
Watch Recording
In this Web Forum, our partners at Cypress Resilience Project will explore how chronic stress affects helping professionals and share practical tools for preventing compassion fatigue, burnout, and vicarious trauma while supporting long-term wellbeing.
Watch Recording
Join the National Overdose Prevention Network for a conversation on building meaningful and sustainable connections with communities that are often overlooked or hard to reach. Speakers will share successful outreach approaches with rural, Black, faith-based, and Tribal communities, followed by a moderated discussion and audience Q&A.
Watch Recording
This final webinar in our AI in Public Health series explores how AI can support human thinking, learning, and ethical decision-making in public health. Participants will gain practical strategies for using AI effectively through a brief overview of key tools and a hands-on workshop.
Watch Recording
Learn from leaders in rural health about the strategies required to move from high-level goals to measurable results. Panelists will discuss their local implementation work, with an emphasis on how adaptive leadership and strategic partnerships have supported their efforts in rural settings.
Watch Recording
Join the Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health to hear from experts who’ve built lead-safe initiatives into lasting community programs—and walk away with strategies to make your work thrive long-term.
Watch Recording