lee d. hoffer, phd
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Lee D.
Hoffer (Assistant Professor; Ph.D., University of Colorado, Denver, 2002; M.P.E., Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, 2004).
Dr. Hoffer's research focuses on understanding the political, social, cultural, and clinical contexts related to illicit drug use. This work has
informed a range of topics, including; HIV risk behaviors of drug injectors, diagnostic nosology for substance use disorders, understanding trends in
drug use, as well as drug policy and intervention studies. More recently, Dr. Hoffer's research examines how illicit drug markets, and the acquisition
of drugs, influences users behaviors and negative health outcomes. In 2000, Dr. Hoffer conducted an eighteen month ethnographic case-study of a heroin
dealing network in Denver, Colorado. This fieldwork focused on the dealer's business operations; transactions with customers; the interaction between
addiction and drug acquisition; social and economic exchange relationships; as well as, characterizing the history of the local heroin market.
This research is detailed in his book Junkie Business: the Evolution and Operation of a Heroin Dealing Network (Thompson-Wadsworth Press, 2006).
His on-going research involves synthesizing agent-based computational modeling techniques and ethnographic research to develop new tools for
policymakers and researchers. Borrowing from theories of Complexity Systems, these projects seek to connect the rich descriptive detail offered by
anthropology with the epidemiology of drug abuse.
From 1997-1999 Dr. Hoffer was Colorado's representative to NIDA's Community Epidemiology Workgroup. He was also active in the Colorado Department of
Public Health and Environment and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) HIV community planning efforts. From 2002-2005 he trained as a
(T32) NIDA post-doctoral fellow in psychiatric epidemiology at Washington University School of Medicine, Epidemiology and Prevention Research Group
(EPRG), mentoring with Dr. Linda Cottler. His research is supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Drug Abuse,
as well as, The National Science Foundation (Cultural Anthropology & Methods, Measurement, and Statistics program).
Contact Information
-
Office Location:
Mather Memorial Building
Room 205 -
Mailing Address:
11220 Bellflower Road #205
Cleveland, OH 44106 -
Telephone:
(216) 368-2631 -
E-Mail:
lee.hoffer@case.edu
Research
Social Simulation in Cultural Anthropology
Publications
Link to web page with publications
Also see a full list of publications in Dr. Hoffer's curriculum vitae in PDF format; requires Adobe Acrobat