Javier Cepeda

Dr. Cepeda is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where he conducts research on characterizing the intersecting epidemics of substance use, infectious diseases (primarily HIV and HCV), and justice involvement.  He applies both quantitative and qualitative research methods to understand how structural drivers, such as interactions with law enforcement, drive overdose and HIV risk.  Additionally, he uses economic evaluation and modeling to evaluate the value-for-money of interventions implemented to improve health outcomes among people who inject drugs. He has worked on numerous community-based cohorts involving people who inject drugs in North America and in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.  He has served on three Lancet Commissions, most recently on the Lancet Commission on Health and Human Rights, where he evaluated the impact and cost-effectiveness of a police education program on reducing HIV and fatal overdose among people who inject drugs in Tijuana, Mexico.  Currently, he is one of the principal investigators on Project SHIELD, an NIH-funded intervention seeking to reduce the negative impact of criminal justice involvement and increase access to harm reduction and evidence-based treatment services.