Janna Ataiants, DrPH, MPA

Janna Ataiants headshot

Assistant Research Professor
Community Health and Prevention
ja633@drexel.edu
Download CV

Degrees

DrPH, Drexel University
MPA, Rutgers University
MA, Education, Moscow State University of Culture
BA, Community Education, Moscow State Institute of Culture

Bio

Dr. Janna Ataiants is a public health expert with over 20 years of experience in substance use and harm reduction. Her research focuses on how social contexts and marginalization shape the experiences of people who use drugs.

Dr. Ataiants was among the first U.S. investigators to document the unique aspects of drug overdose in women, emphasizing the role of multiple forms of violence as a risk factor. Her expertise also extends to overdose prevention interventions. She served as a research analyst on an NIDA-funded feasibility study piloting an overdose response app in Philadelphia and is now a co-investigator on the study’s extension, which examines app-facilitated overdose response patterns based on opioid use histories and neighborhood contexts.

Dr. Ataiants also investigates the health and social impacts of cannabis legalization. For the past decade, she has been involved in a NIDA-funded prospective cohort study of young adults who use cannabis in Los Angeles. She is now a co-investigator on the current phase, which examines controlled cannabis use in California’s adult-use and Pennsylvania’s medical cannabis policy environments. Additionally, she is part of the Drexel Medical Cannabis Research Center and a co-investigator on a Pennsylvania medical cannabis patient registry study supported by Agronomed, which examines the impact of medical cannabis on health conditions and behaviors.

Additionally, Dr. Ataiants serves as a co-Principal Investigator on Pennsylvania’s State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW), supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (SEOW publications). In this role, she leads a team of experts from governmental and non-governmental agencies across Pennsylvania, working to inform state and community decisions on programs, practices, and policies related to substance use and behavioral health.

Dr. Ataiants also teaches a joint undergraduate/graduate course on drug use and public health.

Research Interests

  • Community Health
  • Substance Use
  • Lived Experiences of People Who Use Substances
  • Mixed-Methods Research
  • Drug Policy
  • Harm Reduction

Publications

Ataiants, J., Wong, C. F., Odejimi, O. A., Fedorova, E. V., Conn, B. M., & Lankenau, S. E. (2024). Medicinal cannabis use among young adults during California’s transition from legalized medical use to adult-use: a longitudinal analysis. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 50(2), 229-241.

Scheidell, J. D., Ataiants, J., & Lankenau, S. E. (2022). Miscarriage and Abortion Among Women Attending Harm Reduction Services in Philadelphia: Correlations with Individual, Interpersonal, and Structural Factors. Substance Use & Misuse, 1-8. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2022.2046100

Ataiants, J., Reed, M. K., Schwartz, D. G., Roth, A., Marcu, G., & Lankenau, S. E. (2021). Decision-making by laypersons equipped with an emergency response smartphone app for opioid overdose. International Journal of Drug Policy, 95, doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103250

Ataiants, J., Fedorova, E. V., Wong, C. F., Iverson, E., Gold, J. I., & Lankenau, S. E. (2021). Pain Profiles among Young Adult Cannabis Users: An Analysis of Antecedent Factors and Distal Outcomes. Substance Use & Misuse, 56(8), 1144-1154.

Voronkov, M., Ataiants, J., Cocchiaro, B., Stock, J.B., & Lankenau, S.E. (2021). A vicious cycle of neuropathological, cognitive and behavioural sequelae of repeated opioid overdose. International Journal of Drug Policy. 97. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103362.

Ataiants, J., Mazzella, S., Roth, A. M., Sell, R. L., Robinson, L. F., & Lankenau, S.E. (2020). Overdose response among trained and untrained women with a history of illicit drug use: A mixed-methods examination. Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy, 28(4), 328-339.

Ataiants, J., Mazzella, S., Roth, A. M., Robinson, L. F., Sell, R. L., & Lankenau, S.E. (2020). Multiple victimizations and overdose among women with a history of illicit drug use. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1-26. doi: 10.1177/0886260520927501

Ataiants, J., Roth, A. M., Mazzella, S., & Lankenau, S. E. (2020). Circumstances of overdose among street-involved, opioid-injecting women: Drug, set, and setting. International Journal of Drug Policy, 78, doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102691

See a full list of Dr. Ataiants's peer-reviewed research articles in Google Scholar.