University Honors Glenn College Faculty Member’s Community Impact

The Community Engaged Scholar Award recognizes faculty members who have demonstrated co-created engaged scholarship with positive community impact. Community Engaged Scholars have made significant contributions to Ohio State’s culture of engagement, further establishing and strengthening the university’s commitment to communities.

Perdue’s community engaged research examines the intersection of criminal justice and public health responses to drug crises and their implications for risk and substance use outcomes, demonstrating the essential relationship of public health and criminal justice policy.

“My research is informed by my experiences as a frontline social worker in the nonprofit sector,” said Perdue, who has worked as a case manager in a community mental health center and as a regional epidemiologist for the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. She also volunteered with and conducted research in a harm reduction center in Skid Row, Los Angeles.

“Essential to this process is community engagement, from conducting observations and interviews to engaging community advisory boards that help ensure we are asking the right questions and approaching the research effectively, while disseminating findings back to communities in meaningful ways,” Perdue said.

“Dr. Tasha Perdue joined Ohio State as an assistant professor in fall 2021. In less than five years, she launched several initiatives that have substantially enhanced the university’s portfolio of engaged scholarship around a critical community problem — the ongoing drug overdose crisis,” said Glenn College Professor and incoming Acting Dean Stephanie Moulton. “Her research is grounded in a community-engaged approach that centers the lived experiences of individuals navigating substance use and public systems.”

She co-leads the collaborative with Assistant Professor Vic St. John and Krystel Tossone, a senior research consultant from the Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center. 

“SparkOhio brings together cross-sector partners to strengthen multi-level responses that support children, families and communities across the state,” she said. “Through collaborative research and trauma-informed, evidence-based practices, we aim to enhance agency coordination, inform equitable policy development and bridge research with real-world solutions. Our ultimate goal is to promote safety, stability and resilience for all Ohioans.”

Perdue’s research programs have secured more than $1.5 million in external funding from agencies including the National Institute of Justice and the National Institutes of Health.

“This work is made possible by the many partners, both within the university and in the broader community, who contribute their time and expertise,” Perdue said. “I value these collaborations and the Glenn College’s commitment to research and engagement that is responsive to community needs and grounded in real‑world impact.”

She leads an interdisciplinary team examining disparities in admittance to drug court. The National Institute of Justice-supported work has included engagement with 22 drug courts in 18 counties in Ohio. The team, which includes researchers from the Drug Enforcement Policy Center at Moritz College of Law and the College of Social Work at Ohio State, as well as Cornell University, will produce reports for the participating courts, an overall state report and a series of webinars to ensure timely and direct dissemination of findings to stakeholders and practitioners.

The researchers work with a community advisory board comprised of representatives from Ohio Department of Behavioral Health, Ohio Department of Children and Youth, Ohio Department of Public Safety, Delaware Police Department, Cordata Healthcare, RecoveryOhio with the Governor’s Office, QRT National, Addiction Policy Forum and Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities.

Through her collaboration with the Ohio Colleges of Medicine Government Resource Center, a public university-based center for applied health policy, she provides critical insights to state agency decision-makers. Her current and past projects with the center include:

• OhioRISE (Resilience through Integrated Systems and Excellence): Perdue serves as a lead researcher for the qualitative evaluation of this Ohio Department of Medicaid program, which supports youth with complex behavioral health and multi-system needs.
• State Opioid and Stimulant Response: Perdue helps manage the qualitative evaluation of this program for the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health, assisting the state in assessing the effectiveness of its response to the addiction crisis.
• Medicaid Section 1115 Substance Use Disorder Waiver: Perdue contributes to a qualitative study for the Ohio Department of Medicaid regarding the waiver, which provides the state with the flexibility to implement innovative and comprehensive substance use treatment models.

Perdue also makes exceptional contributions to the teaching and learning mission of the university.

She developed a new juvenile justice policy course, which brings in the voices of individuals directly impacted by the justice system.

She has formally and informally advised six PhD students, four master’s students, one medical student and nine undergraduate students, transcending disciplinary boundaries including the Colleges of Social Work, Public Health and Medicine, in addition to the Glenn College.

She also is a member of Ohio State’s Public Safety Advisory Committee, where she contributes to campus-wide discussions on safety and justice. She serves on the Oversight Committees for both the Criminal Justice Research Center and the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research and Education, reflecting her engagement in evolving areas of drug policy and criminal justice reform.

“Dr. Perdue is an exemplary public scholar,” Moulton said, “who conducts high-impact engaged research that is fully integrated with the teaching and service missions of the college and Ohio State as a land-grant university.”