Assistant Research Professor
Community Health and Prevention
bfc26@drexel.edu

Degrees

MD, Drexel University College of Medicine
MPH, Drexel University School of Public Health
BA, International Affairs / Global Health, The George Washington University

Bio

Dr. Ben Cocchiaro is an Assistant Research Professor at the Drexel Medical Cannabis Research Center. His work bridges clinical practice, public health, and research, with a focus on harm reduction, substance use disorder treatment, and the integration of medical cannabis into care for complex patient populations. He brings over a decade of experience in community-based medicine.

Dr. Cocchiaro’s research explores innovative approaches to overdose prevention, wearable health technologies, and the clinical applications of cannabinoids. He has contributed to multiple peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, and has presented nationally on topics such as buprenorphine induction, contingency management, and trauma-informed care. His work is grounded in a commitment to health equity and community engagement, particularly among people who use drugs and those impacted by incarceration.

In addition to his academic and clinical roles, Dr. Cocchiaro is also active in public health advocacy and has served on the Philadelphia Mayor’s Task Force to Combat the Opiate Epidemic.

Research Interests

• Harm Reduction and Substance Use Treatment
• Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoid Therapeutics
• Overdose Prevention Technologies
• Health Equity and Incarceration
• Community-Based Participatory Research
• Opioid Use Disorder and Buprenorphine Induction
• Public Health Approaches to Addiction
• Integration of Technology in Clinical Care

Publications

Selected Publications:

Roth A, D'Angelo A, Gordon D, Cocchiaro B, Lingamoorthy A, Laurano R, Salzman M, Brenner JS, Baston C. “Nobody Deserves to Overdose and Die by Themselves”: A Qualitative User Experience Study of a Shoulder-Mounted Wearable Sensor Prototype Designed to Detect Opioid-Related Overdose. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 20/05/2025:73566 (forthcoming/in press) doi: 10.2196/73566 URL: https://preprints.jmir.org/preprint/73566

Djordjevic F, Stewart AC, Vella-Horne D, Cocchiaro B, et al. Feasibility and acceptability of multiple methods of recording injecting drug use episode data among people who inject drugs in Melbourne, Australia: a pilot evaluation study protocol. BMJ Open 2024;14:e091613. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-091613.

Ward KM, Scheim A, Wang J, Cocchiaro B, Singley K, Roth AM. Impact of reduced restrictions on buprenorphine prescribing during COVID-19 among patients in a community-based treatment program. Drug Alcohol Depend Rep. 2022 Jun;3:100055. doi: 10.1016/j.dadr.2022.100055. Epub 2022 Apr 26. PMID: 35497489; PMCID: PMC9040407.

Schwartz, D. G., Ataiants, J., Roth, A., Marcu, G., Yahav, I., Cocchiaro, B., Khalemsky, M., & Lankenau, S., "Empowering Communities With a Smartphone-Based Response Network for Opioid Overdoses," in IEEE Pervasive Computing, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 42-47, 1 Oct.-Dec. 2020, doi: 10.1109/MPRV.2020.3019947.

Voronkov, M., Cocchiaro, B., & Stock, J. B. (2021). Neurochemistry International. Does a hypoxic injury from a non-fatal overdose lead to an Alzheimer Disease? Neurochemistry International, 143 (December 2020), 104936. doi: 10.1016/j.neuint.2020.104936.

Cocchiaro B. (contrib.) Bridge to Clinical Practice: Chapters 5-17 in Advanced Physiology and Pathophysiology: Essentials for Clinical Practice, Second Edition by Nancy C. Tkacs, Linda L. Hermann, and Randall L. Johnson (eds.) Springer, 2023.

See Dr. Cocchiaro's full list of publications on Google Scholar