Researchers' Profiles
Howard Padwa, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Howard Padwa is a health services and qualitative researcher at UCLA's Integrated Substance Use and Addiction Programs (UCLA-ISAP). He has led qualitative data collection and analyses for mixed-methods studies of mental health system transformation, behavioral health service integration, evidence-based practice implementation, and the creation of a full continuum of care for substance use disorder treatment under California's Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System (DMC-ODS) Medicaid 1115 Waiver. In addition, he has conducted historical research on drug policy in the United States and overseas, and facilitated stakeholder engagement for several projects. Currently, Dr. Padwa is leading the creation of an online resource to facilitate the utilization of promising and evidence-based practices in youth substance use disorder prevention, and he is co-investigator on an evaluation of California’s Recovery Incentives pilot program and a NIH-funded study focused on quality improvement in opioid use disorder treatment.
- University of Delaware, B.A., 2000, History, French, Political Science
- University of Delaware, M.A., 2000, History
- University of California, Los Angeles, Ph.D., 2008, History
- University of California, Los Angeles, Post-Doctoral Training, 2010-2012, Addiction Health Services Research
- Qualitative research
- Implementation science
- Patient-centered behavioral health care
- Substance use disorder treatment systems
- Mental health treatment systems
- Systems transformation
- Integration of behavioral health with other health and social services
- History of behavioral health policy and practice
- Padwa, H.P., Smith, B.T., Ijadi-Maghsoodi, R., Vickery, K.D., Gelberg L. 2026. People Experiencing Homelessness. In Levy, B.S. Social Injustice and Public Health (Fourth Edition). New York: Oxford University Press.
- Bass, B., Padwa, H., Khurana, D., Urada, D. 2025. Associations Between Recreational Cannabis Legalization and Cannabis Use Disorder Treatment Outcomes in California, 2010-2021. Journal of Cannabis Research 7(60).
- Padwa, H., Chien, J., Henwood, B.F., Cousins, S.J., Zakher, E., Kuhn, R. 2024. Homelessness, Discrimination, and Violent Victimization in Los Angeles County. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 67(5):666-675.
- Bass, B., Padwa, H., Khurana, D., Urada, D., & Boustead, A. 2024. Adult Use Cannabis Legalization and Cannabis Use Disorder Treatment in California, 2010-2021. Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment. 162:209345.
- Padwa, H., Henwood, B.F., Ijadi-Maghsoodi, R., Tran-Smith, B., Darby, A., Bluthenthal, R., Chinchilla, M., Vickery, K.D., Kuhn, R., Lawton, A., Fenderson, E., Galarza, E., Haynes, A., King, D., Martiniuk, E., Marshall, P., Mendoza, S., Patton, T., Shaw, S., Stevens, R., & Gelberg, L. 2023. Bringing Lived Experience to Research on Health and Homelessness: Perspectives of Researchers and Lived Experience Partners. Community Mental Health Journal. 59:1235-1242.
- Padwa, H., Bass, B., Urada, D. 2022. Homelessness and Publicly Funded Substance Use Disorder Treatment in California, 2016-2019: Analysis of Treatment Needs, Level of Care Placement, and Outcomes. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 137(108711).
- Padwa, H., Mark, T., Wondimu, B. 2022. What’s In an “ASAM-Based Assessment?” Variations in Assessment and Level of Care Determination in Systems Required to Use ASAM Patient Placement Criteria. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 16(1):18-26.
- Mark, T., Treiman, K., Padwa, H., Henretty, K., Tzeng, J., Gilbert, M. 2022. Addiction Treatment and Telehealth: Review of Efficacy and Provider Insights During the Coronavirus Pandemic. Psychiatric Services 73(5):484-491.
- Mark, T.L., Gibbons, B., Barnosky, A., Padwa, H., Joshi, V. 2021. Changes in Admissions to Specialty Addiction Treatment Facilities in California During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Network Open, 4(7):e2117029.
- Padwa, H., Kaplan, C.D. 2018. Translating Science to Practice: Lessons Learned Implementing Evidence-Based Treatments in US Substance Use Disorder Treatment Programs. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 24(2):171-182.
- Starks, S.L., Arns, P.G., Padwa, H., Friedman, J.R., Marrow, J., Meldrum, M.L., Bromley, E., Kelly, E.L., Brekke, J.S., Braslow, J.T. 2017. System Transformation Under the California Mental Health Services Act: Implementation of Full-Service Partnerships in L.A. County. Psychiatric Services, 68(6):587-595.
- Padwa, H., Urada, D., Gauthier, P., Rieckmann, T., Hurley, B., Crevecouer-MacPhail, D., Rawson, R. 2016. Organizing Publicly Funded Substance Use Disorder Treatment in the United States: Moving Toward a Service System Approach. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 69:9-18.
- Padwa, H., Meldrum, M., Friedman, J.R., Braslow, J. 2016. A Mental Health System in Recovery: The Era of Deinstitutionalisation in California. In D. Kritsotaki, M. Smith, V. Long (eds.), Deinstitutionalisation and After: Post-War Psychiatry in the Western World. London: Palgrave-Macmillan.
- Padwa, H., Guerrero, E., Braslow, J., Fenwick, K. 2015. Barriers to Serving Clients with Co-Occurring Disorders in a Transformed Mental Health System. Psychiatric Services, 66(5):547-550.
- Padwa, H. 2012. Social Poison: The Culture and Politics of Opiate Control in Britain and France, 1821-1926. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.