Jennifer I. Manuel, Ph.D.

Professor and Associate Dean for Research

Jennifer I. Manuel is professor and associate dean for research at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. Her research interests include substance use and mental disorders, behavioral health systems and services, intervention research, and implementation research aimed at optimizing the delivery of evidence-based interventions across community practice settings.

Dr. Manuel is a services and intervention researcher who uses quantitative and mixed-method approaches. Her research broadly addresses health disparities and barriers to care, as well as transitions in care among youth, young adults, and adults with substance use, mental health, and other critical needs, including housing, employment, health, and trauma.

Dr. Manuel is currently the lead evaluator for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)’s Project Champion. Funded through September 2030, the project provides effective substance use prevention services focused on underage drinking, cannabis, and opioids to residents in communities served by three local health departments and districts in Connecticut.

She is also the lead evaluator for the SBIRT PATHS (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment, Prevention and Access to Treatment Hubs and Services) initiative, funded by SAMHSA through September 2029. The initiative aims to establish four hubs across the state of Connecticut to expand substance use screening for youth ages 12–21, implement brief interventions and referrals to outpatient treatment, and ensure services are equitable and tailored to underrepresented youth in service delivery settings.

In 2025, she completed a NIDA-funded pilot study comparing Critical Time Intervention with enhanced discharge services to reduce the risk of relapse and homelessness among individuals leaving long-term residential substance use treatment programs.

Dr. Manuel is the co-author of more than 45 journal articles and 10 book chapters. Her scholarship has appeared in Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, Drugs, Habits and Social Policy, International Journal of Drug Policy, Social Work in Mental Health, PLOS ONE, and Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, among others.

At UConn, she teaches the Ph.D. course Use of Theory in Social Work Research.

Dr. Manuel, who is a Society for Social Work and Research Fellow, joined the School of Social Work faculty in 2022. She earned her Ph.D. and MS in advanced clinical social work practice from Columbia University School of Social Work, where she was supported by a NIMH T32 predoctoral fellowship. She received her BS. in social work and criminal justice from Texas Christian University. Dr. Manuel completed postdoctoral training at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, where she led a statewide initiative to develop, implement, and evaluate a model for transitioning clients from assertive community treatment to less intensive services.

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