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Stephanie Hutter-Thomas, PhD, CPH, RPS

Founder & CEO

 

 

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Biography

Dr. Stephanie Hutter-Thomas is the Director for the Buprenorphine Implementation Research & Community Health (BIRCH) project, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Department of Behavioral Medicine & Psychiatry. The BIRCH project aims to integrate and scale-up treatment services in primary care settings for people with OUD, HIV, and HCV in West Virginia. She also serves as Co-Investigator for the new Mountain Maryland Forward project, in partnership with the University of Maryland Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR).  This new project is funded by the US Department of Labor and the Appalachian Regional Commission through a 3-year WORC grant. Mountain Maryland Forward aims to provide workforce trainings, paid internships, employer trainings, and ongoing support for people in recovery from substance use disorder and employers providing second chances. 

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In 2021, Stephanie formed Appalachian Recovery Concepts, L.L.C. for the purpose of providing ongoing consulting and education to Maryland programs as an independent consultant. In August of 2022, Stephanie formed The Underdog Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation aimed at providing support and professional development opportunities for peer support specialists.  This new foundation is still under construction and involves a partnership with longtime friends/colleagues, Robert and Amanda Zellner. Program launch is slated for Spring 2024 and will include CPRS trainings, continuing professional education, mentoring opportunities for peers, expungement clinics, and  soft skills development. Prior to her current roles she served as program manager for the AmeriCorps Program Conquering Opioid Abuse Together (COAT) at Frostburg State University from 2017-2020. In that role, she worked alongside a team of national service members, providing trainings to Western Maryland communities impacted by the opioid crisis.

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In 2019, Stephanie also took on the role of Research Program Coordinator for the BeSuRe West pilot project by Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, organizing data collection efforts to examine socio-behavioral determinants of HIV, HCV, and overdose risk among people who inject drugs in Western Maryland. She went on to serve as a project researcher in Western Maryland for the Statewide Ethnographic Assessment of Drug Use and Services study known as SEADS, characterizing the lived experience of people who use drugs in Maryland.

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She is a member of the UMD IRIS Leadership Committee, the Opioid Research Consortium of Central Appalachia (ORCCA), the Studies To Advance Recovery Support (STARS) network; and serving her second commissioner-appointed term with the Allegany County (MD) Mental Health Advisory Council. In recent news, Stephanie was selected for fellowship as part of the 2023-2024 Appalachian Leadership Institute.  This fellowship experience is sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission to provide free education and networking opportunities to select leaders throughout all 13 Appalachian states. As a Western Maryland native with lived experience, Dr. Hutter-Thomas is committed to serving the Appalachian region through advocacy, community education, and evidence-based practices.

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