Karla Wagner, Ph.D.

Summary

Karla Wagner is a behavioral scientist whose research focuses on mitigating health harms among people who use drugs. Her research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health and other funders since 2008. She uses mixed methods and qualitative approaches to study the impact of harm reduction interventions, overdose prevention strategies and innovative approaches to reducing the harms associated with substance use. Her current research is examining the impact of responding to overdoses on the physical, social and mental wellbeing of people who use drugs, and examining strategies to reduce health harms associated with methamphetamine use.

Courses taught

• Ph.D.
  • CHS 732: Mixed Methods Research in Public Health
• MPH
  • CHS 747: Applied Research methods in Public Health (Spring)
• Undergraduate
  • CHS 475: Public Health Impact of the War on Drugs

Recent NevadaToday stories

• Nevada and New Mexico Public Health researchers collaborate on reducing methamphetamine and opioid-related harms
• Reducing drug-related harm with research: Opioid overdose and HIV prevention work can save lives

Current research funding

• Reversing Overdose Epidemics Through Simulation, Collaboration and Unified Efforts (RESCUE)
  • Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health. Sept. 1, 2024-Aug. 31, 2027.
  • Role: Co-investigator
  • This project will develop a simulation model and web tool to help public health officials evaluate strategies to reduce overdose deaths, focusing on geographic and racial or ethnic disparities in access and outcomes.
•  Switching to E-cigarettes Among Smokers in Substance Use Disorder Treatment
  • Funded by the Mountain West Clinical Translational Research Infrastructure Network, through the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. July 2023-June 2024.
  • Principal investigator: Pearson. Role: Co-investigator
  • The study explores whether offering e-cigarettes as a harm reduction tool is feasible and acceptable in opioid use treatment programs.
•  Network-Based Study on Overdose Responders and Prevention
  • Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Sept. 30, 2022-Sept. 30, 2027.
  • Role: Principal investigator
  • This study identifies personal, social and environmental factors that influence overdose response behavior among people who use drugs, aiming to improve support for frequent responders.
•  Naloxone-on-Release as Overdose Prevention
  • Funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. July 1, 2022-June 30, 2027.
  • Principal investigator: Davidson. Role: Co-investigator
  • This project evaluates a large-scale naloxone distribution effort for individuals released from Los Angeles County jails.
•  Methamphetamine Use in the Mountain West
  • Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sept. 30, 2021-Sept. 29, 2025.
  • Multiple principal investigators: Wagner and Page. Role: Co-principal investigator
  • The research investigates patterns and motivations behind methamphetamine and opioid use in Nevada and New Mexico.

Selected publications (since 2021)

2024

• Falade-Nwulia, O., Ward, K., Wagner, K. D., Karimi-Sari, H., Hsu, J., Sulkowski, M., Latkin, C. & Nwulia, E. (2024). Loneliness and fearfulness are associated with non-fatal drug overdose among people who inject drugs. PLOS One. 19.2: e0297209.
• *Kirk, M. R., Wagner, K. D. & Yang, W. (2024). Gambling and substance misuse in Nevada: Applying the common liability to addiction model to behavioral risk factor surveillance system survey data. Nevada Journal of Public Health, 21, 19-27.
• §*Erinoso, O., *Daugherty, R., *Kirk, M. R., Harding, R. W., Etchart, H., Reyes, A., Page, K., Fiuty, P. & Wagner, K. D. (2024). Safety Strategies and Harm Reduction for Methamphetamine Users in the Era of Fentanyl Contamination: A Qualitative Analysis. International Journal of Drug Policy. 128: 104456.
• *Erinoso, O., Watts, T., Koning, S., Lu, M., Wagner, K. D. & Pearson, J. L. (2024). Choice Of Smoking Cessation Products Among People With Substance Use Problems In The US: Findings From The Population Assessment of Tobacco And Health (PATH) Study Wave 6. Addictive Behaviors. 158: 108104.
• *Ajumobi, O., Friedman, S. R., Westhoff, J., Granner, M., Lucero, J., Koch, B. & Wagner, K. D., (2024). Age and racial disparities in filled buprenorphine prescriptions post-emergency department visit in Nevada. Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians, Open.
• §*Kirk, M. R., McCarthy, M., Reyes, A., Chase, B., Anderson, J., Harding, R. W., Fiuty, P. Page, K. & Wagner, K. D. (2024). High concordance between urine toxicology results and self-reported fentanyl use in the Mountain West. Clinical Toxicology. 1-7.
• *Skaathun, B., Dermody, A. & Wagner,K. D. (2024) Ethical Issues in HIV-related Social Network Research Involving Substance-Using Sexual Minorities at Risk for HIV. Connections, 0(0).
• §*Kirk, M. R., Etchart, H., Soske, J., Harding, R. W., Samuels, E. A., Woodard, S., Oman, R. F. & Wagner, K. D. (2024). Certified peer recovery support specialists and substance use–related emergency department visits: A mixed methods study of the patient experience. Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment, 169, 209563.

2023

• *Thomas, S. A., Wagner, K. D., Clements-Nolle, K., Omaye, S., Lu, M. & Yang, W. (2023). Associations between Circumstances Surrounding Overdose and Underlying Classes of Polysubstance Overdose Deaths.  Substance Use & Misuse, 58(3): 434-443. 
• Mburia-Mwalili, A., Wagner, K. D., Simmons, B., Lewis-Kulzer, J., Goodrich, S., Syvertsen, J. L., Wools-Kaloustian, K., Dier, L. & Aluda, M. (2023). Social support and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic among a cohort of people living with HIV in Western Kenya. PLOS Global Public Health 3(2): e0000778.
• Green, H. D., *Grant, J. D., Henschel, B., *Johnson, L., Wei, X. & Wagner, K. D. (2023). Characteristics of individuals seen as sources of social support in populations at increased risk for HIV. AIDS and Behavior. 27: 3447-3459.
• Wagner, K. D., *Marks, C., §Fiuty, P., Harding, R. W. & Page, K. (2023). A qualitative study of interest in and preferences for potential medications to treat methamphetamine use disorder. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice. 18:47. 
• *Kirk, M. R., Dawkins, A. D., Wei, X., *Ajumobi, O., §Lee, L. C., Oman, R., §Woodard, S. & Wagner, K. D. (2023). What makes a peer? Characteristics of certified peer recovery support specialists in an emergency department-based intervention. PlosOne.
• *Thomas, S. A., Clements-Nolle, K. Wagner, K. D., Omaye, S., Lu, M. & Yang, W. (2023). Adverse childhood experiences, antenatal stressful life events and marijuana use during pregnancy: A population-based study. Preventive Medicine. 174: 107656. 
• §Wagner, K. D., Fiuty, P., Page, K., Tracy, E. C., Nocera, M., Miller, C. W., Tarhuni, L. J. & Dasgupta, N. (2023). Prevalence of fentanyl in methamphetamine and cocaine samples collected by community-based drug checking services. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 252: 110985.
• Lu, M., Ching-Shang, L. & Wagner, K. D. (2023). Penalized estimation of partially linear additive zero-inflated Bernoulli regression models. Journal of Nonparametric Statistics. 36(3): 863-890.
• *Thomas, S. A., Clements-Nolle, K., Wagner, K. D., Omaye, S., Lu, M. & Yang, W. (2023). Protective Environmental Factors and Opioid Use Among Sexual Minority Youth.  American Journal of Health Behavior,  47(3), 618-627. 

2022

• Wagner, K. D., *Marks, C., *Felsher, M., Latkin, C., Pearson, J. L. & Falade-Nwulia, O. O. (2022). Individual and social network correlates of responding to multiple overdoses among a cohort of people who use drugs. Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports. 2022;5.
• Marks, C. & Wagner, K. D. (2022). Supporting people responding to overdoses. Invited commentary in The Lancet Public Health. 7(3) e198-e199.
• Harding, R.W., Wagner, K. T., Fiuty, P., Smith, K. P., Page, K. & Wagner, K. D. (2022). “It’s called overamping”: Experiences of overdose among people who use methamphetamine. Harm Reduction Journal. 19(1): 1-11.
• *Johnson, L. M., Green, H. D., Lu, M., Stockman, J. K., Felsher, M., Roth, A. M. & Wagner, K. D. (2022). Who can I ask? Who would I tell?: An egocentric network analysis among a sample of women at risk for HIV to explore anticipated advice-seeking and disclosure around pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). AIDS and Behavior.
• *Rhed, B. D., Harding, R. W., *Marks, C., Wagner, K. T., Fiuty, Ph., Page, K. & Wagner, K. D. (2022). Patterns of and rationale for the co-use of methamphetamine and opioids: Findings from qualitative interviews in New Mexico and Nevada. Frontiers Psychiatry, 13.
• *Johnson, L. M., Devereux, P. G. & Wagner, K.D. (2022). The group-based law enforcement mistrust scale: psychometric properties of an adapted scale and implications for public health and harm reduction research. Harm Reduction Journal. 19(1). 
• Ray, B., Hedden, B. J., Carroll, J. J., del Pozo B., Wagner, K. D., Kral, A. H., O’Donnell D., Victor, G. & Huynh, P. (2022). Prevalence and correlates of incarceration following emergency medical services response to overdose. Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

2021

• *Johnson, L. M., Green Jr., H. D., Koch, B., Stockman, J. K., Felsher, M., Roth, A. M. & Wagner, K. D. (2021). The role of social networks and social norms in anticipated PrEP use in a racially-diverse sample of at-risk women and members of their social networks. Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. 86(4): 422-429
• *Johnson, L. M., Green Jr., H. D., Koch, B., Harding, R., Stockman, J. K. & Wagner, K. D. (2021). Correlates of medical mistrust among minority women at risk for HIV and their networks. Health Education & Behavior.
• Wagner, K.D., Koch, B., *Bowles, J.M., §Verdugo, S.R., Harding, R.W., Davidson, P.J. (2021). Ethnographic decision tree modeling to identify factors associated with calling 911 for an overdose. American Journal of Public Health. e1-e3.
• *Bowles, J. M., Smith, L. R., Mittal, M. L., Harding, R. W., Copulsky, E., Hennessy, G., §Dunkle, A., Davidson, P. J. & Wagner, K. D. (2021). “I wanted to close the chapter completely … and I feel like that [carrying naloxone] would keep it open a little bit”: Refusal to carry naloxone among newly-abstinent opioid users and 12-step identity. International Journal of Drug Policy. 2021;94:103200.
• *Pullen, E., Gukpta, A., Stockman, J. K., Green, H. D. & Wagner, K. D. (2021). Association of Social Network Characteristics with HIV Knowledge, Stigma and Testing: Findings from a Study of Racial and Ethnic Minority Women in a Small Western City. AIDS CARE.
• *Ajumobi, O., Verdugo, S. R., Labus, B., *Reuther, P., Lee, B., Koch, B., Davidson, P. J. & Wagner, K. D. (2021). Identification of Non-Fatal Opioid Overdose Cases Using 9-1-1 Computer Assisted Dispatch and Prehospital Patient Clinical Record Variables. Prehospital Emergency Care.
• Smith, K. P., Oman, R. F., Lu, M., Dawkins, A. D., Harding, R. W., Hepworth, K. & Wagner, K. D. (2021). The Mobile Emergency Recovery Intervention Trial (MERIT): Protocol for a 3-Year Mixed Methods Observational Study of Mobile Recovery Outreach Teams in Nevada’s Emergency Departments. Plos ONE.F(10): e0258795.

*denotes student/trainee author

§ denotes manuscript that includes community partners

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellowship in Division of Global Public Health, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Diego
• Ph.D. in Preventive Medicine (Health Behavior Research), University of Southern California, Los Angeles
• M.A. in Applied Anthropology, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff
• B.A. in Anthropology and Minor in Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder