Dr. Mai Tuyet Pho is an infectious diseases physician and Associate Professor in the Section of Infectious Diseases and Global Health. She serves as the Director of Health Policy Research at the Chicago Center for HIV Elimination. Her work seeks to improve health outcomes and public policy at the intersection of HIV, HCV, and substance use. Current research leverages implementation science and intervention testing to expand public health interventions that support the health of people who use drugs, with a special focus in rural communities and criminal legal involvement. Her work has been supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the National Institutes on Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Third Coast Center for AIDS Research and Grand Challenges Canada.
Dr. Pho served as the interim Chief Medical Officer at the Illinois Department of Public Health and a Medical Advisor for Healthcare Policy and Research. During her tenure she led multiple efforts around the opioid epidemic and HCV, including analysis on fatal and nonfatal overdose, HCV surveillance, naloxone overdose prevention and education around safe opioid prescribing. She is a member of the Illinois Statewide Opioid Crisis Response Advisory Council and the Illinois Viral Hepatitis Coalition. She is an active infectious diseases clinician providing inpatient and outpatient specialty consultation and leads institutional quality improvement efforts in HCV testing and linkage to care. She currently mentors medical students, graduate students and fellows interested in public health, health economics and public policy.
DoxyPEP: Opportunities for Expansion.
DoxyPEP: Opportunities for Expansion. J Prim Care Community Health. 2025 Jan-Dec; 16:21501319251370497.
PMID: 40913480
Removing arbitrary limitations on buprenorphine for opioid use disorder.
Removing arbitrary limitations on buprenorphine for opioid use disorder. Addiction. 2025 Oct; 120(10):1913-1915.
PMID: 40865976
Genomic surveillance uncovers regional variation in HCV transmission networks among people who use drugs in rural U.S. communities.
Genomic surveillance uncovers regional variation in HCV transmission networks among people who use drugs in rural U.S. communities. Res Sq. 2025 Jun 10.
PMID: 40585240
Access to and predictors of substance use treatment and support among people experiencing incarceration in the United States: Analysis of a national cross-sectional study.
Access to and predictors of substance use treatment and support among people experiencing incarceration in the United States: Analysis of a national cross-sectional study. Drug Alcohol Depend Rep. 2025 Jun; 15:100343.
PMID: 40487296
Benzodiazepines and Opioid co-use Among Rural People Who Use Drugs: Findings From the Rural Opioid Initiative.
Benzodiazepines and Opioid co-use Among Rural People Who Use Drugs: Findings From the Rural Opioid Initiative. Subst Use Addctn J. 2025 Oct; 46(4):847-858.
PMID: 40302433
Barriers to accessing medications for opioid use disorder among rural individuals.
Barriers to accessing medications for opioid use disorder among rural individuals. Int J Drug Policy. 2025 Jun; 140:104805.
PMID: 40252371
Approaches to Offering Hepatitis C Treatment at Syringe Services Programs in the United States: A Scoping Review.
Approaches to Offering Hepatitis C Treatment at Syringe Services Programs in the United States: A Scoping Review. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2025 Apr; 12(4):ofaf211.
PMID: 40290563
A taxonomy of social support interventions for People experiencing a syndemic of substance use disorder, criminal legal involvement, and downstream Health sequelae.
A taxonomy of social support interventions for People experiencing a syndemic of substance use disorder, criminal legal involvement, and downstream Health sequelae. SSM Ment Health. 2025 Jun; 7.
PMID: 40677743
Lamin B loss in nuclear blebs is rupture dependent while increased DNA damage is rupture independent.
Lamin B loss in nuclear blebs is rupture dependent while increased DNA damage is rupture independent. bioRxiv. 2025 Feb 25.
PMID: 40060436
Sexual identity, sexual behavior, and drug use behaviors among people who use drugs in the rural U.S.
Sexual identity, sexual behavior, and drug use behaviors among people who use drugs in the rural U.S. J Subst Use Addict Treat. 2025 Apr; 171:209629.
PMID: 39875013