Jenna van Draanen

Dr. Jenna van Draanen received her PhD in Community Health Sciences from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2017. Her expertise is in the social determinants of co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders. Her contributions to the study of co-occurring disorders have the following overarching themes: the inclusion of perspectives of people with lived experience, evaluating programs and policies, and the impact of early adversity.

Alongside her research training, van Draanen has lead evaluations of health and social programs at the community, provincial, national and international level. Her dissertation research used survival analysis to elucidate the link between different categories of childhood stressors (such as childhood poverty, abuse) and their unique associations with onset of disorders in different gender and racial/ethnic groups. Currently, she is leading research on the connections between sources of income, material security, and health outcomes for people who use drugs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

For an up-to-date list of publications by Dr. van Draanen, please see ResearchGate.