Kathryn M Nowotny, Ph.D.
Associate Professor

Dr. Kathryn Nowotny is Associate Professor of Medical Sociology at the University of Miami where she directs the Miami Health & Justice Lab (www.miamihealthjustice.com). Her research uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the multilevel factors that create increased risk for poor health among justice-involved people and people who use drugs. Dr. Nowotny is currently site-PI of a multi-site longitudinal cohort study (R01) examining barriers to PrEP for HIV prevention among people recently released from prisons and jails in the South (North Carolina, Kentucky, and Florida). She is also Co-Founder of the COVID Prison Project (www.covidprisonproject.com), the leading national effort to track COVID-19 outcomes and policies across U.S. prisons as well as advocating for data transparency in correctional institutions.
Education
2016 | Ph.D. Sociology, Chancellor’s Fellow, University of Colorado Boulder |
2008 | Sociology, University of Houston |
2006 | B.A. Sociology & Anthropology, Summa cum Laude, University of Houston, |
Professional Experience
2016 - | Assistant Professor, University of Miami Department of Sociology |
2014 - 2016 | Board of Directors [Student Member], Society for the Study of Social Problems |
2013 - 2015 | Student Forum Advisory Board, American Sociological Association |
Honors & Acknowledgements
Ralph and Barbara Dakin Award for Research in Social Justice, University of Colorado Department of Sociology
National Award of Excellence in Research by a Student, National Hispanic Science Network
Bruce D. Johnson Student Paper Award, SSSP Drinking & Drugs Division
Outstanding Student Paper Award, ASA Section on Alcohol, Drugs, & Tobacco
New Investigator Outstanding Abstract Award, National Hispanic Science Network
Distinction in Comprehensive Examination in Sociological Research Methods and Statistics
Conferences & Events
April 25 – 26, 2017 | 2nd Annual Jail Research Network Meeting | National Corrections Academy, Aurora, COSponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), National Institute of Corrections (NIC), and Crime and Justice Institute (CJI). |
June 6 – 7, 2016. | Jails Research Network Meeting: Technical Review Panel for the Survey of Inmates in Local Jails | National Corrections Academy, Aurora, COSponsored by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), National Institute of Corrections (NIC), and Crime and Justice Institute (CJI). |
More Conferences | |
Memberships
Academic Consortium on Criminal Justice Health
American Society of Criminology (ASC) – Divisions of Women & Crime and People of Color & Crime
American Sociological Association (ASA) – Alcohol, Drugs & Tobacco and Medical Sociology
National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse (NHSN) [nominated membership
Population Association of America (PAA)
Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) – Drinking & Drugs Division
Correctional Health & Healthcare; Health Disparities; Social Demography; Drug Use & Abuse
Research Projects
The Lifespan/Brown Criminal Justice Research Training (CJRT) Program on Substance Use, HIV, and Comorbidities
2016 Early Career Fellow. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) R25 DA037190, 2016-2018, Miriam Hospital/The Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Principal Investigator: Curt G. Beckwith
Doctoral Dissertation Research: Applying a Social Ecological Framework to Inmate Health
2014 Co-Principal Investigator. National Science Foundation (NSF)
Sociology Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant #1401061, $11,994, 2014-2015 University of Colorado Boulder.
Principal Investigator: Joanne Belknap
Examining Health Disparities: The Health and Healthcare of Incarcerated Adults.
2016 Principal Investigator. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Fellowship F31 DA037645, $105,238, 2014-2017 University of Colorado Boulder.
Sponsor: Jason D. Boardman. Co-Sponsors: Joanne Belknap & Alice Cepeda.
Emergence and Diffusion of Crack and Related Health Risk Behaviors in Mexico City
2011 Project Director. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
National Institutes of Health (NIH), R21 DA031376, 2011-2012 University of Houston.
Principal Investigator: Avelardo Valdez.
At Risk Hispanic Gangs: Long-Term Consequences for HIV, Hepatitis, and STI
2009 Project Director. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
National Institutes of Health (NIH), R01 DA023857, 2009-2013 University of Houston.
Principal Investigators: Avelardo Valdez & Alice Cepeda.
Opioid Use, Overdose Risk Trajectories and Health-Related Outcomes among U.S. Veterans in Los Angeles
Pending
Consultant. R01 submitted to National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
PI: Avelardo Valdez.
[submitted Oct. 2017]
The National Jail Health Care Survey
Principal Investigator. R25 pilot project submitted to National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
$15,000 subcontract to University of Miami [submitted Dec. 2017]
High-Risk Substance Use related to Stigmatized Statuses among Mexican-American Women
Principal Investigator. R03 submitted to National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities
(NIMHD)
$164,572 [submitted Feb. 2018]
The Southern Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Cohort Study: Longitudinal PrEP Initiation and Adherence among Parolees
Co-Investigator. R01 submitted to National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
$501,335 subcontract to University of Miami. PI: Lauren Brinkley-Rubenstein. [submitted
Feb. 2018]
Health Consequences of Drug Use and IPV Trajectories for Young Latinas
Co-Investigator. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Administrative Supplement, 2017-2018, University of Southern California. Principal Investigator: Alice Cepeda.
Publications
Nowotny, Kathryn M., Jessica Frankeberger*, Victoria Rodriguez*, Avelardo Valdez, and Alice Cepeda "Behavioral, Psychological, Gender, and Health Service Correlates to Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Infection among Young Adult Mexican-American Women Living in a Disadvantaged Community" Behavioral Medicine
Cepeda, Alice, Kathryn M. Nowotny, Jessica Frankeberger*, Jarron Saint Onge, and Avelardo Valdez "Biological Risk and Infection Profiles of Young Adult Mexican American Male Gang Members." Public Health Reports
More Publications