Niles Zoschke, MPH, DrPH
Associate Scientist
- nzoschke@arg.org
EDUCATION
Dr. I. Niles Zoschke earned a BA in Anthropology from Western Michigan University, an MPH in Behavioral Science and Health Education from Saint Louis University, and a DrPH in Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. They currently serve as an NIH-funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of California at Berkeley, stationed at Alcohol Research Group, a division of Public Health Institute. There they are training their expertise in substance use research and qualitative and quantitative research methods. Their training integrates public health research and practice, and a longstanding commitment to health equity.RESEARCH FOCUS
Dr. Zoschke’s research focuses on reducing health disparities in tobacco use and substance use, and improving recovery outcomes among historically marginalized populations, including people who inject drugs and sexual and gender minority communities. They use qualitative and mixed methods approaches to examine social and structural drivers of substance and tobacco use and improving the implementation of recovery housing settings. Their current work includes a community-partnered study on tobacco use among California community college students, the harm of alcohol/drug use on others, and the development of a grant to advance cancer prevention in recovery settings. Dr. Zoschke is also busy publishing their dissertation manuscripts focused on the implementation and sustainability of recovery homes.
Dr. Zoschke is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Research Scientist at the Alcohol Research Group, a division of Public Health Institute. They have more than a decade of experience in public health research and practice, with a particular emphasis on substance/tobacco use among marginalized populations. Their career has spanned local health departments, academic research centers, and community coalitions. They have contributed to multiple national CDC Best Practices User Guides for tobacco prevention and control, including those focused on cessation, youth engagement, and public health communications.
Before joining Alcohol Research Group, they developed and implemented an HIV-prevention program for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults at the City of St. Louis Department of Health, and helped launch Smokefree SGM, a formative research study at UTHealth on LGBTQ+ smoking cessation. Dr. Zoschke also helped launch, implement, and analyze Project HOMES, a large-scale evaluation study of recovery housing in the State of Texas. At Alcohol Research Group, they have published multiple peer-reviewed articles, networked with national scholars, and taken initiative in developing early-career grant applications.
They are also a committed labor advocate and active member of UAW 4811, working to protect research funding and student worker rights. Their work is grounded in the belief that community collaboration, rigorous science, and health justice are key to impactful public health.
