Robert D. AshfordFounder & Principal Visionary
- Community assessments
- Program evaluation
- Policy analysis
- Independent research projects
- Grant writing
- Technical assistance
- MSW, School of Social Policy and Practice, University of Pennsylvania
- BSW, University of North Texas
With over 10 years of experience, Robert Ashford is a recovery scientist focused on substance use, recovery communities, recovery support services and institutions, integrated behavioral health systems, linguistic patterns, and technological interventions for behavioral health disorders.
Recovery shouldn’t be the exception, it should be the expectation
Robert holds a Bachelor of Social Work with minors in Addiction Studies and Psychology from the University of North Texas, and a Master of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice (SP2). Currently, Robert is pursuing his PhD in Health Policy at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. Robert has also completed fellowships with the Treatment Research Institute and is currently a graduate research assistant at the Center on the Continuum of Care in Addictions at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the Substance Use Disorders Institute at the University of the Sciences. Robert has been the recipient of many prestigious awards, most notably NADAAC’s Young Emerging Leader Award (2014), and the University of Pennsylvania Provost’s Citation for Excellence in Service (2017). He is also the founding editor for the Journal of Recovery Science, a national recovery planning partner for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), grant reviewer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and serves as an appointee to the Philadelphia Mayor’s Task Force to Combat the Opioid Epidemic.
selected publications
| Ashford, R. D., Meeks, M., Curtis, B., & Brown, A. (In Press). Utilization of Peer-based Substance Use Disorder and Recovery Interventions in Rural Emergency Departments: A Preliminary Evaluation. Journal of Rural Mental Health. |
| Ashford, R. D., Brown, A., & Curtis, B. (In Press). Expanding Language Choices to Reduce Stigma: A Delphi Study of Positive and Negative Terms in Substance Use and Recovery. Health Education. |
| Ashford, R. D., Brown A., Brown, T., Callis, J., Cleveland, H. H., Eisenhart, E., … Whitney, J. (In Press). Defining and Operationalizing the Phenomena of Recovery: A Working Definition from the Recovery Science Research Collaborative. Addiction Research and Theory. https://doi.org/10.1080/16066359.2018.1515352 |
| Ashford, R. D., Curtis, B., & Brown, A. (2018). Peer Delivered Harm Reduction and Recovery Support Services: Initial Evaluation from a Hybrid Recovery Community Drop-In Center and Syringe Exchange Program. Harm Reduction Journal. |
| Ashford, R. D., Brown, A. M., & Curtis, B. (2018). “Substance Use, Recovery, and Linguistics: The Impact of Word Choice on Explicit and Implicit Bias. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 189, 131–138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.05.005 |
| Ashford, R. D., Brown, A., & Curtis, B. (2018). Systemic Barriers in Substance Use Disorder Treatment: A Prospective Qualitative Study of Professionals in the Field. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 189, 62–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2018.04.033 |
| Ashford, R.D, Brown, A., & Curtis, B. (2018). The Language of Substance Use and Recovery: Novel Use of the Go/No Go Association Task to Measure Implicit Bias. Health Communication, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2018.1481709 |
| Ashford, R. D., Brown, A. M., & Curtis, B. (2018). “Abusing Addiction”: Our Language Still Isn’t Good Enough. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/07347324.2018.1513777 |
| Ashford, R. D., Wheeler, B., & Brown, A. M. (2018). Collegiate Recovery Programs and Disordered Eating: Exploring Subclinical Behaviors Among Students in Recovery. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/07347324.2018.1475206 |
| Ashford, R. D., Lynch, K., & Curtis, B. (2018). Technology and Social Media Use Among Patients Enrolled in Outpatient Addiction Treatment Programs: Cross-Sectional Survey Study. Journal of Medical Internet Research. Doi: 10.2196/jmir.9172 |
| Curtis, B., Buffone, A., Ungar, L., Ashford, R. D., Hemmons, J., Summers, D., Hamilton, C., Giorgi, S., & Schwartz, A. (2018). Can Twitter Be Used to Predict Excessive Drinking at the County Level?. PLOS-ONE, 13(4). Doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194290 |
| Ashford, R. D., Brown, A. M., Heller, A. T., Eisenhart, E., & Curtis B. (2018). What do we know about students in recovery: A meta-synthesis of collegiate recovery programs: 2000-2017. Addiction Research and Theory. Doi: 10.1080/16066359.2018.1425399 |
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VFR has been invaluable in helping Oregon execute a statewide strategic plan for addiction and recovery. Implementing a statewide strategy for tracking recovery prevalence will help us serve those that need us most.
Gaining the ability to evaluate the ARHE and S.A.F.E. Project leadership academy has been instrumental in growing the program. Our stakeholders have access to meaningful metrics and know exactly how our participants are progressing!
