Dr. Natalie Flath is a social epidemiologist and community-based participatory researcher who aims to develop and scale non-carceral solutions to prevent drug-related harms and reduce social inequities. Dr. Flath completed her PhD in Mental Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and is currently a NIDA-funded T32 Postdoctoral Fellow in the Program on Substance Use, HIV, and Related Infections at the University of California San Diego.

Zach is a Research Program Manager with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology and the SHIELD Training Initiative. Prior to joining Hopkins and SHIELD, he served in multiple roles supporting occupational health and wellness programs. He also spent nearly four years at a grassroots harm reduction agency in North Carolina advancing innovative harm reduction interventions, bolstering organizational infrastructure, and facilitating community-driven research projects. He earned his B.S. in Health Education from the University of Florida, his MPH in Community Health Education from UNC Greensboro, and is a Certified Health Education Specialist. Zach brings his years of community-based program planning, implementation, and evaluation experience to his current role coordinating an NIH-funded study based in Appalachian Kentucky.

Dr Andrew Scheibe is a medical doctor who works in public health programming, research, and policy in South Africa and across the African region. His work focuses on the intersection of infectious diseases, the social determinants of health, human rights, and substance use, with a particular emphasis on harm reduction. He is a Technical Advisor for TB HIV Care, a researcher at the University of Pretoria’s Community Oriented Primary Care Research Unit and a consultant for PSI.