Ben Scher

Heather Howard and New Jersey capitol building

Princeton Professor and CHW affiliate @heatherhhoward.bsky.social has been invited to co-chair Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill's Action Team focused on affordable health care. Howard will lead the committee with
@chiquitabl.bsky.social '96, Fmr. CMS Administrator. tinyurl.com/597tnztf

New research led by @deannagiraldi.bsky.social finds that impacts of gun violence extend far beyond dominant news statistics.
The review analyses 25 years of literature involving survivors, witnesses & their communities.
More: dspi.web.ox.ac.uk/article/impa...
Full report: doi.org/10.1016/j.la...

Characterizing ‘Atmosphere’: exploring determinants of regular service attendance amongst integrated supervised consumption site clients in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside - Harm Reduction Journal Background Research has explored barriers and facilitators to supervised consumption sites (SCS) in Canadian settings. Despite this, little is known about what factors drive individuals to initiate an...

Link: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Excited to share a new paper out in HRJ where we explore the concept of ‘atmosphere’ within SCS spaces and how it influences service engagement.

A huge thanks to my co-authors @bchrisinger.bsky.social, @gwshorter.bsky.social and @dkhumphreys.bsky.social for their support and guidance on this work.

Characteristics of State Waivers to Establish Nutritional Restrictions in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program AbstractIntroduction. States have previously requested permission from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to implement food item restrictions within t

Twelve states will be adding new food restrictions to SNAP next year. I unpack these policies in some new research in Health Affairs Scholar (open access).

tl;dr - wide range in food definitions, justifications for restriction, and plans to evaluate.

🥗 🛟 📊🩺

Ben Scher Tackles Health Inequalities and Drug-Related Harm In a recent interview, Postdoctoral Research Associate Ben Scher shares the crux of his research and plans for advancing this work at and beyond Princeton

In a recent interview, Postdoctoral Research Associate
@ben-scher.bsky.social shares the crux of his research exploring health inequalities, social exclusion, and drug policy, along with his plans for advancing this work at and beyond Princeton.

tinyurl.com/2feh6kah

Thank you to @correlationnet.bsky.social for supporting this special issue!

The collection brings together diverse perspectives on harm reduction across Europe, from policy shifts to lived experience.
You can explore all articles here: www.biomedcentral.com/collections/...

I’m glad to share a new article published as part of HRJ’s special collection: "Harm Reduction in Europe: Histories, Choices and Hopes."

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

@gwshorter.bsky.social @dkhumphreys.bsky.social @bchrisinger.bsky.social 1/2

Harm Reduction and Belonging in the Provision of Homelessness Services | King's College London Ben Scher

New in the Homelessness series
Harm Reduction and Belonging in the Provision of Homelessness Services
12 November 2025 10:00 to 11:00
Online. All welcome.
with @ben-scher.bsky.social
www.kcl.ac.uk/events/harm-...

Crime rate around Somerset supervised consumption site lower than government suggested when announcing closure The crime rate around the Somerset West Community Health Centre did not rise to the figures put forward by the provincial government last year when announcing the closure of its supervised consumption...

This story is interesting, not just because of the Minister's bad faith claims, but also because it illustrates how cities are left to pick up the pieces when provinces play politics with SCS. #harmreduction

www.ctvnews.ca/ottawa/artic...

Look forward to listening Mat

Division of Prevention and Community Research and The Consultation Center The Division of Prevention and Community Research, Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine invites applications for a two-year NIDA-funded T32

✨Job Alert ✨ The Division of Prevention and Community Research, Department of Psychiatry, @yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social, invites applications for a two-year NIDA-funded T32 postdoctoral training program in substance use prevention research.

medicine.yale.edu/psychiatry/p...

Barnett Prize winner 2025: Neftalem Emanuel We are delighted to announce this year's Barnett Prize winner, Neftalem Emanuel, for his outstanding contribution to evidence-based social intervention and policy evaluation.

Congratulations @neftalememanuel.bsky.social, winner of the 2025 Barnett Prize for his paper:
‘Damp Places, Unhappy Faces: Analysing the Impact of Housing Repairs & Maintenance Expenditure on Local Authority Residents Wellbeing in England between 2013-2022’ 👏
www.spi.ox.ac.uk/article/barn...

Congratulations Ben!! We look forward to seeing what you do next in your career.

Departmental Lecturer at University of Oxford Apply for the Departmental Lecturer role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.

Come and work with us at @dspi-oxford.bsky.social as a Departmental Lecturer. Role involves teaching qualitative and mixed methods and intervention and evaluation design with time and support to develop your own lines of research.

Apply by June 13th: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DNF076/d...

Thank you Zoe! I hope you’re well

As well as all the collaborators on my project: @matsouthwell.bsky.social @profalexstevens.bsky.social @pwud-pride.bsky.social + Nikos Poulopoulos and Christos Anastasiou. Finally to all my peers at DSPI who made the past 3.5 years so special and for whom I am so grateful. 4/4

A huge thank you to @robcalder.bsky.social and the Society for the Study of Addiction whos steadfast support throughout the entirety of my PhD greatly enhanced my doctoral experience. 3/4

I’d also like to say a huge thank you to my assessors @amiyabhatia.bsky.social and Dr Andrew Ivsins who pushed me whilst making the viva such an enjoyable experience. 2/4

I’m over the moon to share that yesterday I completed my DPhil @dspi-oxford.bsky.social 🎉

There are so many thank yous, but firstly to my amazing and unbelievably supportive supervisors @gwshorter.bsky.social @bchrisinger.bsky.social @dkhumphreys.bsky.social

1/4

🚨 Proud supervisor alert 🚨
One my 1st PhD students just passed his viva!

Give @ben-scher.bsky.social a follow for rigorous qualitative + participant-centered #HarmReduction research.

s/o to amazing co-sup team @gwshorter.bsky.social @dkhumphreys.bsky.social @dspi-oxford.bsky.social
🛟 #academicsky

UK’s first safer drug consumption facility accessed more than 2,500 times in first four months, data show The UK’s first safer drug consumption facility (SDCF) in Glasgow has been accessed 2,691 times during the four months it has been open, according to data published by the Glasgow City Health and Socia...

Glasgow's supervised drug consumption facility was accessed 2,691 times in its first 4 months, with 30 medical emergencies attended too

There's huge unmet nationwide demand for SDCF/OPCs, proven to reduce harm, save lives & facilitate service access
pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/news...
1/

“Exploring the need for overdose prevention centers in England: A qualitative community-based participatory study on the perspectives of people who use drugs in public and semi-public environments” by @ben-scher.bsky.social et al (2025) via IJDP.

Link: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

People involved in street-based drug use need places of safety, away from police and public gaze, where they don't have to rush.

Please get in touch if you have any comments or feedback!

•An OPC was seen to offer protection from police-related trauma.

•An OPC was viewed as a solution to improve community relations by reducing drug-related litter.

•The views of people who use drugs should be prioritized by policymakers when considering the implementation of OPCs.

Highlights:

•Threat of public and police interaction leads to rushed injection practices and increased risk of injection-related harms.

•An overdose prevention centre (OPC) was seen to reduce injecting risks and drug-related deaths.

A huge thank you to co-authors @matsouthwell.bsky.social @pwud-pride.bsky.social @profalexstevens.bsky.social @bchrisinger.bsky.social @dkhumphreys.bsky.social @gwshorter.bsky.social for all their help with the research and writing process.

Very excited to share our new paper in @ijdrugpolicy.bsky.social 🎉

In this paper we look at experiences of people who use drugs in public and semi public drug consumption environments and the need for OPCs in England.