Rate My Professor Mance Buttram

Mance Buttram is an Associate Professor of Public Health in the Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He serves as Co-Director of the Center for Public Health and Technology. Buttram received his Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology from Florida International University, specializing in health disparities. His career includes prior roles at Nova Southeastern University as Assistant Professor in the Department of Justice and Human Services and Associate Director of the Center for Applied Research on Substance Use and Health Disparities.

Buttram's research focuses on the social-environmental contexts influencing substance use behaviors and related HIV transmission risks among vulnerable populations, particularly the diversion and non-medical use of prescription medications. He is currently the Principal Investigator of a national surveillance study monitoring prescription drug diversion trends across the United States. Previously, he led a NIDA-funded investigation into the non-medical use of gabapentin among substance users. In 2022, the National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded him a $436,653 R21 grant for the project "An Examination of Concomitant Non-Medical Use of Gabapentin and Opioids," which utilizes ethnographic decision modeling, qualitative interviews, and surveys with individuals in treatment centers from seven states to address gaps in understanding gabapentin-opioid interactions amid the opioid crisis. His scholarly contributions include numerous peer-reviewed articles on drug misuse patterns, PrEP access, and health disparities.

Key publications include "The Informal, Non-Prescribed Use of Antiretroviral Medications for PrEP Among a National US-Based Sample of Gay, Bisexual, and Other Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Cross-Sectional Study" (2024, Substance Use & Misuse, with Ellis, Samuel, Hayhurst); "Gabapentin Use Among Individuals Initiating Buprenorphine Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder" (2023, American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, with Ellis et al.); "Increasing Rates of Buprenorphine Diversion in the United States: 2017-2021" (2021, Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety); "A Qualitative Examination of Gabapentin Misuse Inside and Outside of Treatment Settings" (2020, Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs); and "The Social Environmental Elements of Resilience among Men Who Have Sex with Men Living with HIV" (2015, AIDS Care). Buttram's work informs public health policies, clinical practices, and harm reduction strategies.