Brendan Saloner Named Bloomberg Associate Professor of American Health

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has appointed Brendan Saloner, PhD, as a Bloomberg Associate Professor of American Health in the Department of Health Policy and Management. This is an endowed position supported by the Bloomberg American Health Initiative through a gift from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Saloner is an associate professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management, with a joint appointment in Mental Health. He is also core faculty in the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. His research focuses on the intersection of health and social policy, particularly on the role of public programs that serve people with substance use disorders.

“Dr. Saloner’s focus on health and social policy is critically important today,” says Dean Ellen J. MacKenzie, PhD, ScM. “We are delighted to congratulate him on this recognition.”

Saloner has conducted extensive research evaluating policies designed to improve access and quality of care for substance use disorders. He is interested in the transformation of public sector behavioral health and primary care health systems under the Affordable Care Act, as well as the role of multi-sectoral collaborations to prevent opioid overdose, especially within the criminal justice system. Saloner is also interested in how ethical issues influence equitable health care financing and the design of health insurance.

“Brendan Saloner is a creative scholar and a tremendous leader in the health policy field,” says Colleen Barry, PhD, Fred and Julie Soper Professor and chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management. “His research aims to increase access to care, improve health care quality, and lower overdose risk for the most vulnerable people in our society, including those with substance use disorders involved in the criminal justice system. He gravitates toward high-impact research with a focus on saving lives.”

Saloner’s work has been published in leading journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Health Affairs, JAMA, and the Journal of Health Policy, Politics, and Law. His work has also been featured in The New York Times, NPR, CNN, and other national news organizations.

“Addiction and overdose remain enormous threats to life and health in the United States,” says Joshua M. Sharfstein, MD, director of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative. “Dr. Saloner’s research illuminates pathways to hope and health and will contribute to saving many lives.”

Saloner received his PhD in Health Policy at Harvard University in 2012, with a concentration in ethics. He was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar from 2012 to 2014, and was the Greenwall Fellow in Bioethics at the National Academy of Medicine from 2015 to 2017. In 2019, he received the Alice S. Hersh Emerging Leader Award from AcademyHealth.

“Across America, researchers and communities are responding to the addiction and overdose crisis with the urgency it requires,” says Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies. “Dr. Saloner’s leadership is critical to this lifesaving work, and I congratulate him on his new appointment.”

This professorship endowment is part of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, which is supporting 25 new endowed positions. The Initiative focuses on addressing major health challenges facing the nation, including obesity and the food system, environmental challenges, addiction, violence, and adolescent health.