Courtney A McKnight

Clinical Assistant Professor of Epidemiology

Professional overview

Dr. Courtney McKnight is a Principal Investigator specializing in mixed methods research focused on the epidemiology of drug use, opioid overdose, HIV and HCV infection.  Dr. McKnight has over 20 years of experience conducting public health research related to drug use, as well as field experience as a harm reduction service provider.

Prior to joining NYU, Dr. McKnight served as the assistant director of research at the Chemical Dependency Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she was an investigator and project director on numerous federally funded research studies, including evaluations of syringe services programs; investigations of the drivers that contribute to disparate rates of HIV and HCV; and interventions to increase access to HIV and HCV testing and care.

Previous to Dr. McKnight’s work in research, she directed a harm reduction program for women who use drugs and volunteered at a syringe services program in New Jersey.

Dr. McKnight received her DrPH from the City University of New York Graduate Center, her Master of Public Health from Hunter College, and her Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Rutgers University. Her dissertation examined the impact of Medicaid coverage of methadone and buprenorphine on treatment access for opioid dependent beneficiaries.

Dr. McKnight’s current research interests include examining the shifting landscape of illicit opioids, including the increasing prevalence of illicitly manufactured fentanyl, and risk environments of people who use drugs.

Education

BA, Women's Studies, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

MPH, Community Health Education, Hunter College, New York, NY

DrPH, The City University of New York, New York, NY

Areas of research and study

Behavioral Science

Drug addiction

Epidemiology

Harm reduction

Hepatitis

HIV/AIDS

Infectious Diseases

Mixed-Methods Research

Opioid

Qualitative Research

Social epidemiology

Substance Abuse

Publications

Publications

COVID-19 vaccination uptake and determinants of booster vaccination among persons who inject drugs in New York City

Hepatitis C treatment outcomes among people who inject drugs experiencing unstable versus stable housing: Systematic review and meta-analysis

COVID-19 vaccination and HIV transmission among persons who inject drugs during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City

Field Testing the “Avoid the Needle” Intervention for Persons at Risk for Transitioning to Injecting Drug Use in Tallinn, Estonia and New York City, USA

Global epidemiology of abortion among female sex workers: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression

HIV risk and prevention among clients of a delivery-based harm reduction service during an HIV outbreak among people who use drugs in northern rural Minnesota, USA

Understanding intentionality of fentanyl use and drug overdose risk: Findings from a mixed methods study of people who inject drugs in New York City

Modeling HIV transmission among persons who inject drugs (PWID) at the “End of the HIV Epidemic” and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Recurrent Injecting Drug Use as a Mediator between Psychiatric Disorder and Non-Fatal Overdose

Barnes, D. M., Xu, S., Cleland, C. M., McKnight, C., & Des Jarlais, D. (n.d.).

Publication year

2022

Journal title

Substance Use and Misuse

Volume

57

Issue

8

Page(s)

1248-1256

10.1080/10826084.2022.2076877

Abstract

Abstract

Background: Unintentional drug overdose has increased markedly in the United States. Studies document an association between psychiatric disorder and unintentional overdose; we extend this research through a preliminary test of a causal model of recurrent injection drug use mediating this relationship. Methods: In a cross-sectional study of 241 adults in New York City with a possible current substance use disorder, we conducted conventional and Imai’s mediation analyses to examine if psychiatric disorder is associated with increased prevalence of ever overdosing and if recurrent injection drug use mediates this association. Our cross-sectional data permit the first step of assessing causal models: testing if statistical associations are consistent with the model. Results: Fifty-eight percent of the sample endorsed previous psychiatric disorder diagnosis and 35.7% reported ever overdosing. Imai’s mediation analysis showed that, adjusting for covariates, the total association between psychiatric diagnosis and ever overdosing (adjusted prevalence difference [aPD] = 0.16, 95% CI 0.04–0.28) was composed of a direct effect (aPD = 0.09, 95% CI −0.03 − 0.21, p = 0.136) and an indirect effect (aPD = 0.07, 95% CI 0.02–0.13). Recurrent injecting drug use contributed to 42% (ratio of indirect effect to total effect; 95% CI 12 − 100%, p = 0.02) of the association between psychiatric diagnosis and ever overdosing. Conventional mediation analysis produced similar results. Conclusions: Our results provide a warrant for taking the necessary next step for assessing a causal model using longitudinal data, potentially providing a strong rationale for intervening on psychiatric disorders to stem overdose.

Thick trust, thin trust, social capital, and health outcomes among trans women of color in New York City

Is your syringe services program cost-saving to society? A methodological case study

Hepatitis C incidence and prevalence among Puerto Rican people who use drugs in New York City

Toward the Interpretation of Positive Testing for Fentanyl and Its Analogs in Real Hair Samples: Preliminary Considerations

Alternative kinship structures, resilience and social support among immigrant trans Latinas in the USA

Geographic distribution of risk ("Hotspots") for HIV, HCV, and drug overdose among persons who use drugs in New York City: The importance of local history

Injection and Heterosexual Risk Behaviors for HIV Infection Among Non-gay Identifying Men Who Have Sex with Men and Women

Prescription opiate analgesics, heroin, HIV and HCV among persons who inject drugs in New York City, 2016-2018

Being “hooked up” during a sharp increase in the availability of illicitly manufactured fentanyl: Adaptations of drug using practices among people who use drugs (PWUD) in New York City

Cost-effectiveness of hepatitis C screening and treatment linkage intervention in US methadone maintenance treatment programs

Hepatitis C virus prevalence and estimated incidence among new injectors during the opioid epidemic in New York City, 2000–2017: Protective effects of non-injecting drug use

Heterosexual male and female disparities in HIV infection at the end of an epidemic: HIV infection among persons who inject drugs in New York City, 2001–2005 and 2011–2015

Potential geographic "hotspots" for drug-injection related transmission of HIV and HCV and for initiation into injecting drug use in New York city, 2011-2015, with implications for the current opioid epidemic in the US

Decline in herpes simplex virus type 2 among non-injecting heroin and cocaine users in New York City, 2005 to 2014: Prospects for avoiding a resurgence of human immunodeficiency virus

Decline in HSV-2 among non-injecting Heroin and Cocaine users in New York City, 2005-2014: potential protection against HIV resurgence

Des Jarlais, D., Arasteh, K., Feelemyer, J., Mcknight, C., Tross, S., Perlman, D., Campbell, A. N. C., Hagan, H., & Cooper, H. L. F. (n.d.).

Publication year

2017

Journal title

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Page(s)

85-90

Perceived discrimination among racial and ethnic minority drug users and the association with health care utilization