Bridget S. Murphy

Dr. Murphy is an assistant research professor in the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health in the Department of Health Promotion Sciences at the University of Arizona (U of A). Dr. Murphy also works with the U of A’s Arizona Center for Rural Health and Comprehensive Center for Pain and Addiction. She has more than three decades of education and experience in public and behavioral health. Dr. Murphy has had positions in academic institutions, community-based, and private sector organizations. She has a doctorate in behavioral health and a master’s in education. Her principal expertise is in substance use and related issues (e.g., pain/trauma, infectious diseases) prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery for culturally and linguistically diverse populations in various settings. 

As a teen, Dr. Murphy struggled with substance use and mental health issues and participated in treatment. This experience provided the foundation for my academic and professional direction. She uses her personal experience as an evidence-based strategy to reduce stigma, communicate science through storytelling, and increase access to education, services, and support for diverse populations. Science tells us the words we use and the ways we describe people, and their families, may influence access to care and services provided. Dr. Murphy prioritizes addressing stigma and including people with lived experience by using adult learning principles and strength-based approaches.

Dissemination & Implementation (D&I) Science. Dr. Murphy began her career by providing services to adolescents involved with the juvenile justice system. This led to various projects implementing evidence-based programs for adolescents and their families, transitional-aged youth, and pregnant, parenting, and childless women. She led the day-to-day implementation of a multi-site screening, brief intervention, referral to treatment (SBIRT) project for juvenile justice involved youth and their caregivers. She also coordinated a study assessing the efficacy of online training for parents who have children with or suspected of having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Today, through a career development award, she is developing interventions and strategies to implement Opioid Stewardship Programs (OSPs) in rural healthcare organizations to address pain and addiction. She was a fellow in the Mountain States-Community Engaged Dissemination and Implementation (MS-CEDI) sponsored by Arizona State University.

Supporting the Public Health Workforce. Dr. Murphy values the contributions of our public health workforce and works to provide training and technical assistance to enhance these systems and services. Dr. Murphy has directed professional development activities in a variety of settings for professionals across the U.S. She leads a contract with the Arizona Department of Health Services - Overdose Data to Action State (OD2A-S) where the team provides training and technical assistance in pain and addiction. Together, the OD2A-S team collaborates with community leaders, healthcare practitioners, and community health workers/representatives to address pain, opioids, stimulants, and polysubstance use in Arizona. She is also a chair for the U of A Interprofessional Education and Practice (IPE) on pain and substance misuse. 

Teaching and Service. Dr. Murphy is the instructor for the undergraduate course Drugs and Society and faculty lead for the undergraduate certificate and minor in addiction and substance use.  Dr. Murphy is an advisor to the U of A’s Arizona Cannabis Education program and the Team Awareness Combatting Overdose (TACO) student club. 

Research Synopsis 

Link to PubMed https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1f5q0XJnippMnz/bibliography/public/ 

Link to ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4536-0758