J. Deanna Wilson, MD, MPH is a Presidential Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Wilson’s research focuses on building health equity and reducing health disparities for marginalized and racially minoritized populations who use substances, particularly young people who use substances. Her research examines the ways in which intersecting systems of disadvantage, including structural racism, contributes to poor outcomes for people who inject drugs. She leverages data-driven approaches to identify and understand disparities within the health system, and through research and community partnership focuses on transforming health systems to be responsive to the needs of the communities they serve.
Dr. Wilson uses health services research methods, implementation science, and community-engaged methods to examine how best to integrate harm reduction into primary care settings, develop low threshold models of care to improve engagement and retention of marginalized racially and ethnically minoritized populations, and improve engagement and retention of adolescents and young adults in opioid use disorder treatment. She has received several awards recognizing her as a researcher, advocate, and clinician, including the American Academy of Pediatrics Emerging Leader Award, the NIH HEAL Trailblazer Award, and the HEAL Director’s Award for Community Partnership.
Dr. Wilson graduated from Yale University School of Medicine in 2010 and completed her medicine-pediatrics residency as well as her adolescent medicine fellowship at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. While at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Wilson also completed her Master’s in Public Health with a Social and Behavioral Sciences Concentration.
