Publications in CONNECT

Co-author Network

Tillson, Martha

Researcher

Positions

Research Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky 2025 -

Martha Tillson is a sociologist by training and currently serves as an Assistant Professor (Research Title Series) in the University of Kentucky’s College of Medicine, Department of Behavioral Science. She is also an affiliate of the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research (University of Kentucky) and Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (NYU School of Global Public Health) and was a trainee under the JEAP Initiative (Chestnut Health Systems). Her research centers on women’s gendered experiences of substance use/misuse and related risks, with a focus on factors and services that support women’s recovery/remission, particularly at community reentry post-incarceration. This work is motivated and informed by her academic background in psychology and social work, lived experience, and desire to reduce stigma and drug-related harms.

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selected publications

academic article
- Bunting, A., Tillson, M., & Staton, M. (2024). The effect of geographic congruence on post-release substance use and reincarceration.. Criminal Justice and Behavior https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548241227545
- Tillson, M., Oser, C. B., & Staton, M. (2024). Understanding women’s drug use following corrections-based substance use disorder treatment and community release: A mixed methods social-ecological analysis.. Women & Criminal Justice https://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.2024.2316122
- Webster, J. M., Dickson, M. F., Tillson, M., & Staton, M. (2024). Impaired driving and other risky drug use and sex behaviors: a cross-sectional examination of high-risk rural women incarcerated in jail. Journal of Addictive Diseases, 42(1), 45-54. 10.1080/10550887.2022.2138701
- Watson, D. P., Tillson, M., Taylor, L., Xu, H., Ouyang, F., Beaudoin, F. L., O’Donnell, D., & McGuire, A. B. (2024). Results From the POINT Pragmatic Randomized Trial: An Emergency Department-Based Peer Support Specialist Intervention to Increase Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Linkage and Reduce Recurrent Overdose. Substance Use & Addiction Journal 10.1177/29767342231221054
- Staton, M., Tillson, M., Levi, M. M., Webster, M., Oser, C., & Leukefeld, C. (2024). Screening Incarcerated Women for Opioid Use Disorder. Journal of Drug Issues, 54(1), 57-73. 10.1177/00220426231151595
- Janulis, P., Phillips III, G., Melville, J., Hogan, B., Banner, K., Mustanski, B., Oser, C. B., Tillson, M., Schneider, J., & Birkett, M. (2023). Network Canvas: An open-source tool for capturing social and contact network data. International Journal of Epidemiology, 52(4), 1286-1291. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyad036
- Cioffi, C., Hibbard, P., Hagaman, A., Tillson, M., & Vest, N. (2023). Perspectives of researchers with substance-use related lived experience in implementation science research: Opportunities to close the research-to-practice gap in substance use systems of care. . Implementation Research and Practice, 4. https://doi.org/10.1177/26334895231180635
- Annett, J., Tillson, M., Walker, M., Webster, J. M., & Staton, M. (2023). Adverse childhood experiences and mental health among incarcerated women: Self-esteem as a mediating mechanism. Child Abuse & Neglect, 146, 106486. 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106486
- Staton, M., Tillson, M., Levi, M., Dickson, M., Webster, M., & Leukefeld, C. (2023). Identifying and Treating Incarcerated Women Experiencing Substance Use Disorders: A Review. Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation, Volume 14, 131-145. 10.2147/sar.s409944
- Zaller, N. D., Staton, M., Gorvine, M. M., Tillson, M., Glenn, J., Pro, G., Oser, C., & Ramaswamy, M. (2023). Proposed development of the Criminal Justice Translation and Clinical Science (CJ-TRACS) network. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 7(1), e189. 10.1017/cts.2023.531
- Dickson, M. F., Tillson, M., Calvert, J. M., & Staton, M. (2023). Transactional sex among rural, justice‐involved Appalachian women who use drugs. The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association, 39(4), 789-794. 10.1111/jrh.12741
- Tillson, M., Dickson, M. F., Webster, J. M., & Staton, M. (2022). Community Relationship Quality and Reincarceration Following Rural Drug-Using Women’s Reentry From Jail. Criminal Justice and Behavior 10.1177/00938548211073603
- Dir, A. L., Tillson, M., Aalsma, M. C., Staton, M., Staton, M., & Watson, D. (2022). Impacts of COVID-19 at the intersection of substance use disorder treatment and criminal justice systems: findings from three states. Health & Justice, 10(1), 25. 10.1186/s40352-022-00184-8
- Tillson, M., Fallin-Bennett, A., & Staton, M. (2022). Providing peer navigation services to women with a history of opioid misuse pre- and post-release from jail: A program description. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 6(1), e106. 10.1017/cts.2022.441
- Staton, M., Tillson, M., & Webster, J. (2021). A Description of COVID-19 Lifestyle Restrictions Among a Sample of Rural Appalachian Women.. 10.13023/jah.0301.02
- Studts, C. R., Tillson, M., Pike, E., & Staton, M. (2021). Adaptation of the NIDA Standard for delivery via Facebook with justice-involved women in rural Appalachia. Implementation Research and Practice, 2, 263348952110141. 10.1177/26334895211014123
- Calvert, J., Dickson, M., Tillson, M., Pike, E., & Staton, M. (2021). Rural Re-entry and Opioid Use: Identifying Health-Related Predictors of Relapse Among Formerly Incarcerated Women in Appalachia.. 10.13023/jah.0303.03
- Pike, E., Tillson, M., Staton, M., & Webster, J. M. (2021). The role of law enforcement officers in responding to the opioid epidemic: A qualitative assessment. Substance Abuse 10.1080/08897077.2020.1865243
- Staton, M., Dickson, M. F., Tillson, M., Leukefeld, C., Webster, J. M., Knudsen, H. K., & Oser, C. B. (2020). A Preliminary Examination of Substance Use Risk among Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan Girls Involved in the Juvenile Justice System. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 29(1), 46-57. 10.1080/1067828x.2020.1827471
- Smith, K. E., Tillson, M., Staton, M., & Winston, E. M. (2020). Characterization of diverted buprenorphine use among adults entering corrections-based drug treatment in Kentucky. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 208, 107837. 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.107837
- Webster, J. M., Tillson, M., Dickson, M. F., & Staton, M. (2020). Impaired driving among rural female drug-involved offenders. Traffic Injury Prevention, 21(8), 513-520. 10.1080/15389588.2020.1810244
- Pike, E., Tillson, M., Webster, J. M., & Staton, M. (2019). A mixed-methods assessment of the impact of the opioid epidemic on first responder burnout. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 205, 107620. 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.107620
- Tillson, M., Staton, M., Strickland, J. C., & Pangburn, K. (2019). An Examination of the Age of Substance Use Onset and Adult Severity of Use Among Offenders Entering Treatment. Journal of Drug Issues, 49(2), 238-252. 10.1177/0022042618797307
- Staton, M., Dickson, M. F., Tillson, M., Webster, J. M., & Leukefeld, C. (2019). Staying Out: Reentry Protective Factors Among Rural Women Offenders. Women & Criminal Justice, 29(6), 368-384. 10.1080/08974454.2019.1613284
- Staton, M., Ciciurkaite, G., Havens, J., Tillson, M., Leukefeld, C., Webster, M., Oser, C., & Peteet, B. (2018). Correlates of Injection Drug Use Among Rural Appalachian Women.. The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association, 34(1), 31-41. 10.1111/jrh.12256
- Staton, M., Ciciurkaite, G., Oser, C., Tillson, M., Leukefeld, C., Webster, J. M., & Havens, J. R. (2018). Drug Use and Incarceration among Rural Appalachian Women: Findings From a Jail Sample. Substance Use & Misuse, 53(6), 931-941. 10.1080/10826084.2017.1385631
- Dickson, M. F., Staton, M., Tillson, M., Leukefeld, C., Webster, J. M., & Oser, C. B. (2018). The Affordable Care Act and Changes in Insurance Coverage and Source of Health Care among High-risk Rural, Substance-using, Female Offenders Transitioning to the Community. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 29(3), 843-863. 10.1353/hpu.2018.0064
- Tillson, M., Strickland, J., & Staton, M. (2017). Age of First Arrest, Sex, and Drug Use as Correlates of Adult Risk Behaviors Among Rural Women in Jails.. Women & Criminal Justice, 27(5), 287-301. 10.1080/08974454.2017.1291392
- Staton, M., Strickland, J., Tillson, M., Leukefeld, C., Webster, J., & Oser, C. (2017). Partner Relationships and Injection Sharing Practices among Rural Appalachian Women.. Women's Health Issues, 27(6), 652-659. 10.1016/j.whi.2017.07.005
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