Amanda K Slaunwhite
SCIENTIST, PHD
Dr. Amanda Slaunwhite is a Senior Scientist at the BC Centre for Disease Control and assistant professor in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Dr. Slaunwhite conducts applied health research focused on improving the health of persons who use substances and their families. She has expertise in quantitative and qualitative research on mental health and substance use. She currently leads a program of research that uses linked administrative health data in the BC Provincial Overdose Cohort to identify opportunities to reduce health inequities and evaluate provincial interventions such as prescribed safer supply. Dr. Slaunwhite conducts research in collaboration with persons with lived/living experience of substance, overdose and incarceration. She holds funding from MSFHR, CIHR, and the Public Health Agency of Canada to examine topics related to overdose, substance use, the criminal legal system and safer supply.
Research Interests
- Substance use
- Mental health
- Illicit drug poisoning (overdose)
- Rural and northern health
Dr. Slaunwhite co-leads the UBC Transformative Health and Justice Research Excellence Cluster (2020-2023) with Dr. Helen Brown from UBC Nursing. Through her appointment at UBC, she mentors students and early career trainees (post-doctoral fellows). Dr. Slaunwhite has led research that has been used to directly inform clinical guidance and health policy including the Province of BC’s Prescribed Safer Supply Directive (2021) and Risk Mitigation Guidance update (2022).
Additional Affiliations
- Scientific Director, Correctional Health Services, Provincial Health Services Authority
- Assistant Professor (Partner), School of Population and Public Health, UBC
- Director, Canadian Collaboration for Prison Health and Education
Media Coverage
- B.C.’s prescribed safer drug supply saved lives, landmark study finds (CTV News, January 2024)
- Overdose victims are 15 times more likely to suffer brain injury, new study finds (Globe and Mail, August 2023)
