Education

• 1992 - Ph.D, Medical Sociology & Demography; Howard University, Washington, DC
• 1989 – Sociology; MA, Howard University, Washington DC
• 1985 – BA, Anthropology, Howard University, Washington, DC
• 2 years, Biology; American University, Washington, DC
• 1995, Studying Work and Family Life: Methodological Strategies in Secondary Analysis Harvard University, Radcliffe College, Henry A. Murray Research Center.
• 1995, Introduction to Health Policy and Management, Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Hygiene and Public Health.
• 1993-1994, Department of Public Health, George Washington University
• 1994, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Epidemiology, Prevention, and Control of Vaccine- Preventable Diseases.

Biography

Yonette Thomas, PhD is science advisor for urban health to the New York Academy of Medicine, a member of the International Society for Urban Health board, and a senior research advisor to the Association of American Geographers.  She is a faculty affiliate of the Maryland Population Research Center at the University of Maryland College Park, and a voluntary associate professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University Of Miami Miller School Of Medicine where she teaches social epidemiology. She was formerly the associate vice president for research compliance at Howard University. Previously she served as the chief of the Epidemiology Research Branch and program director for the sociology epidemiology program at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health. She has held faculty appointments in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and in the School of Pharmacy at Howard University. She is a member of the Consortium of Social Science Associations Advisory Committee and the Steering Committee of the National Hispanic Science Network.  Her primary research and publications have focused on the social epidemiology of drug abuse and HIV/AIDS and the link with geography, including edited volumes: Geography and Drug Addiction, Crime, HIV, and Health: intersections of Criminal Justice and Public Health Concerns. She has a Ph.D. in medical sociology and demography, with post graduate training in epidemiology.

Research Interest

Her primary research is focused on the Social determinants of health, Place and Health and Social Epidemiology of Drug Abuse.

Professional Activities:

Publications

Books and Special Journal Issues

1. Thomas, YF and Price, LN. (Forthcoming) Drug Use Trajectories among Minorities in the U.S. New York, NY: Springer Publishing, Inc.
2. Saunders, Bill, Thomas, YF, Deeds, GD. 2012. Crime, HIV and Health: Intersections of Criminal Justice and Public Health Concerns. New York, NY: Springer.
3. Thomas, YF, Richardson, D, Cheung, I. 2008. Geography and Drug Addiction. New York, NY: Springer.
4. Thomas, YF and Iguchi, MY. Guest Editors, “Behavioral and Economic Perspectives in Drug Abuse Research,” Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Volume 90, Suppl., September 2007.
5. Thomas, YF. Guest Editor, “Understanding the Social Epidemiology of Drug Abuse and HIV/AIDS,” Supplement to American Journal of Preventive Medicine, June 2007.
6. Manski, C., Thomas, Y., and Pepper J. 1999.  “Assessment of Two Cost-Effectiveness Studies on Cocaine Control Policy.”  National Academy Press: Washington, D.C.

Articles, Chapters, and Major Papers

1. Thomas, YF and Conway, KP, 2009. “The Epidemiology of Drug Abuse: How NIDA Stimulates Research.” In Scheier, LM, Ed. Handbook of Drug Use Etiology. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC: APA Books.
2. Thomas, YF and Compton, WM, 2007. “Rural populations are not protected from drug use and abuse,” The Journal of Rural Health, Volume 23, Supplemental Issue, Fall 2007.
3. Thomas, YF, Schnur P, Iguchi, MY, 2007.“Behavioral and economic perspectives in drug abuse research,” editorial. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Volume 90, Suppl., September 2007.
4. Thomas, YF. 2007. The Social Epidemiology of Drug Abuse. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Vol. 32 (6S), pp. s141-s146, 2007.
5. Compton, WM, Thomas, YF, Stinson FS, Grant, BF. Prevalence, correlates, disability, and comorbidity of DSM-IV drug abuse and dependence in the United States: results from the national epidemiologic survey on alcohol and related conditions. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007 May; 64(5):566-76.
6. Compton, WM, Thomas, YF, Conway, KP, Colliver, JD. Developments in the epidemiology of drug use and drug use disorders. Am J Psychiatry. 2005 Aug; 162(8):1494-502.
7. “Getting to Positive Outcomes for Children in Child Care: Issues in Child Care Performance Measurement,” Board on Children, Youth, and Families, The National Academies, National Academy Press, 2001.
8. Thomas Y. and Pepper J. 2001.  “Measuring the Prevalence, Dynamics, and Effects of Illegal Drug Use for the Purpose of Informing Policy.”  National Academy of Sciences White Paper.
9. Thomas, Y., 1993.  “CCDP Health Services Guidelines.”  In the Proceedings of the CCDP Tenth Grantees’ Conference: October 31-November 4, 1992, Washington, DC: CSR, Incorporated.
10. Aitken, S.A., Reed, M.C., Poston, J., and Thomas, Y.  1992.  Rites of Passage and Afrocentricity: A Review of CSAP’s HRY Grantee Programs from Cohorts 1 and 2. Washington, DC: CSR, Incorporated.
11. Aitken, S.A., Thomas, Y., et al., 1992.  Study of the Implementation and Effectiveness of OSAP High Risk Youth Demonstration Grants: First Annual Report.  Rockville, MD: Office for Substance Abuse Prevention.
12. Thomas, Y., 1992.  “Preventive behavior and HIV/AIDS: A study of minority women in the U.S.”  Presented to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Howard University, Washington, DC. August 1992.
13. Thomas, Y., 1989.  “The impact of mass media on self-care and self-medication: A study of Health and illness behavior.”  Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Howard University, Washington, DC, Ann Arbor, MI: Dissertation Abstracts International, copyright 1992.