Nisha Beharie, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., is passionate about leveraging her research efforts to advocate for and give a voice to marginalized communities of people with substance abuse and those experiencing homelessness. In 2014, Dr. Beharie's findings from her dissertation, titled Trauma, Mental Health, and Substance Use Among Homeless Families: The Importance of Shelter Environment highlighted the importance of the shelter environment in promoting positive psychosocial outcomes among homeless families in New York City and have been widely disseminated to others in academia as well as service providers.

As a postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Beharie was awarded funding by the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR) to conduct a pilot study exploring potential points of intervention to better support caregivers and youth residing in family shelters. She has since leveraged findings from this study to advocate for greater autonomy for families and youth living in shelters.

Prior to joining New York Medical College, Dr. Beharie was a senior research associate at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in the Bureau of Alcohol, Drug Use, Prevention Care and Treatment where she led qualitative and mixed methods research to inform policy and programing related to substance use. Findings from these efforts led to improvements in program operations, often in real time, to address the tragic record number of overdoses occurring in New York City. These improvements consistently took a harm reduction approach to addressing substance use and emphasized the de-stigmatization of drug use.

Dr. Beharie currently also serves on the Policy and Advocacy Committee for the New York State Public Health Association (NYSPHA) where she works with other committee members to develop policy statements which are then disseminated by NYSPHA to broader audiences, and advocates for policies that promote the health and wellbeing of all New Yorkers.   

Education

• B.S., Psychology, Fordham University
• M.P.H., Child, Adolescent, and Reproductive Health, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health
• Dr.P.H., Community, Society, and Health, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York
• Predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowship: Behavior Science Training (BST) Program, New York University

Research

Dr. Nisha Beharie has two decades of extensive research and program experience both domestically and abroad. She has worked on issues related to health policy, substance use, homelessness, and mental health and specializes in mixed-methods and qualitative research. Dr. Beharie is passionate about leveraging her research efforts to advocate for and give a voice to marginalized communities of people with substance abuse and those experiencing homelessness.

Publications

• Beharie N, Urmanche A, Harocopos A, et. al. "A mixed-methods analysis of risk-reduction strategies adopted by syringe services program participants and non-syringe services program participants in New York City." Harm reduction journal, 20(1), (2023) 38. doi: 10.1186/s12954-023-00772-3
• Jordan AE, Izar R, Nicolas R, et. al. "Understanding Vaccine Perceptions and Willingness to Receive COVID-19 Vaccination: Opportunities to Strengthen Public Health Responses and COVID-19 Services for People Who Use Drugs." Vaccines, 10(12), (2022) . doi: 10.3390/vaccines10122044
• Urmanche AA, Beharie N, Harocopos A, et. al. "Fentanyl preference among people who use opioids in New York City." Drug and alcohol dependence, 237(), (2022) 109519. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2022.109519
• Beharie N, Leonard NR, Gwadz M, et. al. ""NO BROKERS TO MOVE OUT OF HERE.": A MIXED METHOD ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF HOMELESSNESS POLICY AND SHELTER GOVERNANCE ON FAMILIES RESIDING IN NYC SHELTERS." Journal of social distress and the homeless, 30(2), (2021) 141-154. doi: 10.1080/10530789.2020.1774846
• Beharie N, Kaplan-Dobbs M, Urmanche A, et. al. ""I didn't feel like a number": The impact of nurse care managers on the provision of buprenorphine treatment in primary care settings." Journal of substance abuse treatment, 132(), (2022) 108633. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108633
• Ararso Y, Beharie NN, Scheidell JD, et. al. "The Joint Effect of Childhood Abuse and Homelessness on Substance Use in Adulthood." Substance use & misuse, 56(5), (2021) 660-667. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2021.1887249
• Beharie N, Scheidell JD, Quinn K, et. al. "Associations of Adolescent Exposure to Severe Violence with Substance Use From Adolescence into Adulthood: Direct Versus Indirect Exposures." Substance use & misuse, 54(2), (2019) 191-202. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2018.1495737

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Recent Presentations

• Warren EC, Beharie N, Kaplan-Dobbs M, Harocopos A. Successes and Challenges of a Buprenorphine Nurse Care Manager Initiative in New York City: Experiences of Nurse Care Managers and Buprenorphine Prescribers. Poster presentation at American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) Annual Meeting; June 2022; Denver, CO.
• Beharie N, Harocopos A, Kattan J, Kaplan-Dobbs M. “I didn’t feel like a number:” Patient experiences receiving buprenorphine treatment in primary care settings with the support of a Nurse Care Manager. Oral presentation at (virtual): AMERSA Annual Conference; October 2020.
• Harocopos A, Beharie N, Urmanche A. Assessing and Mitigating Risk – Exposure to fentanyl in New York City. NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) Briefing at Drug Policy Alliance; June 2019; New York, NY.
• Beharie N, Harocopos A, Kaplan-Dobbs M, Kattan J. Lessons learned from the implementation of the Nurse Care Manager model to increase access to buprenorphine in primary care. Poster presentation at Annual Conference for the Society for Behavioral Medicine; March 2019; Washington, D.C.

Select Invite

• COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence Among People Who Use Drugs. Oral presentation at Center for Drug Use and HIV Research bi-weekly seminar. March 12, 2022, Virtual.

Professional Service

• Board of Directors for the American Public Healt Association of New York State (NYSPHA), 2024
• Inaugural Advisor for Everyday Activism Network, 2021
• New York State Public Health Association Policy and Advocacy Committee member, 2021
• Race to Justice affinity space facilitator (bi-racial/multiracial group) at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 2019

Memberships and Affiliations

• Behavior Science Training (BST) Program at NYU, 2014
• Policy and Advocacy Committee for the New York State Public Health Association (NYSPHA), 2024