Speaker's Profile

Robert Ashford is a recovery scientist focused on substance use, recovery communities, recovery support services and institutions, integrated behavioral health systems, linguistic patterns, and technological interventions for behavioral health disorders.

Dr. Ashford received a doctorate in Health Policy from the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, and also holds a Bachelor of Social Work with minors in Addiction Studies and Psychology from the University of North Texas, and a Master of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice (SP2).

Robert has completed fellowships with the Treatment Research Institute, the Center on the Continuum of Care in Addictions at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Substance Use Disorders Institute at the University of the Sciences.

Dr. Ashford has authored over 45 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters related to substance use, stigma and identity, recovery support services, and digital recovery support platforms. He is also the founding editor for the Journal of Recovery Science, a national recovery planning partner for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), grant reviewer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, serves as an appointee to the Philadelphia Mayor’s Task Force to Combat the Opioid Epidemic and the Philadelphia Peer Culture Transformation Advisory Board, and was a past appointee to the Council for Advising and Planning for the Department of State Health Services in Texas.