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Experts

William Zule

Senior Fellow

Education

DrPH, University of Texas School of Public Health-Houston

MPH, University of Texas School of Public Health-Houston

BA, University of Texas-San Antonio

William Zule, DrPH, is a leading expert in community-based HIV prevention research. For more than 25 years, his research has focused on HIV and hepatitis C virus epidemiology and prevention, and overdose risk among people who use drugs. He applies harm reduction strategies to mitigate the adverse consequences of opioids and methamphetamine use.

Currently, Dr. Zule supports Mitigating the Outcomes Associated with the Injection Drug Use Epidemic in Southern Appalachia. This project is a cooperative agreement funded by the NIDA, CDC, SAMHSA, and the Appalachian Regional Commission to mitigate the harmful effects of opioids and other drugs in rural areas across the U.S.

Dr. Zule’s previous work suggests that better syringe design may substantially reduce HIV infections from syringe sharing. He worked with two needle and syringe programs in Tajikistan to develop and test strategies for implementing the World Health Organization’s recommendations regarding the distribution of low dead space syringes to reduce hepatitis C virus and HIV transmission among people who inject drugs.

His early work helped clarify the context of indirect needle sharing in HIV risk among intravenous drug users. He has been a principal investigator, project director, and ethnographer on several large HIV prevention epidemiologic research projects. More recently, he has published a series of papers examining and assessing treatment readiness and entry among out-of-treatment drug users.

Dr. Zule currently holds a professional membership at the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the College of Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD).
 

Expertise
  • People who inject drugs
  • Methamphetamines
  • Opioids
  • HIV
  • HCV
Press Info

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Get to Know Dr. Zule

Dr. Zule shared his experience with his first job, lessons learned from an impactful mentor, and a book that everyone should read.

My first research job was as an ethnographer for the San Antonio site of the National AIDS Demonstration Research (NADR) Program, which was NIDA’s first large multi-site effort to reduce HIV transmission among people who inject drugs. There, I observed their behaviors and made friends.

James Frederick (Fred) Maddux left a lasting impression as a mentor. Fred was a psychiatrist who pioneered the research of people who use opioids. He retired from the Public Health Service in 1969, where he served as the Chief Medical Officer for the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital (for narcotic addicts) in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1969, he joined the faculty of the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, where he conducted a career study of opioid users from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Fred taught me how write research papers and helped me understand how to think through statistical problems.

Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg is a wonderful book that provides a simple, easily applied road map for adopting new desired habits and getting rid of unwanted habits. It can be used to make positive changes in your personal life and to inform behavioral interventions that people can adopt and maintain.

More From William Zule

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