Traci Toomey, PhD is the Director of the Cannabis Research Center and a professor in the School of Public Health. She is a behavioral epidemiologist and an expert in substance use control policies who has served as the principal investigator or co-investigator of nearly 40 externally-funded research studies focusing on substance use. She has been a leader on a series of studies assessing and/or changing the alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco retail environments, and on studies measuring the prevalence, strength, and effects of local and state substance-use related policies. Traci is also the Director of the Alcohol Epidemiology Program (AEP) at the University of Minnesota.

View Faculty Directory Profile

Darin Erickson, PhD is the Associate Director of Research for the Cannabis Research Center and a professor in the School of Public Health. He is a substance use researcher who focuses on prevention through policy and is also an established methodologist with expertise in multilevel and longitudinal modeling. He has published over 150 articles in peer-reviewed journals and has been principal investigator or co-investigator on over 50 funded projects. Much of this work involves examining substance use policies and retail practices, e.g.; alcohol outlet density and crime, menthol tobacco bans, cannabis legalization, drunk driving policies, and developing measures of the overall alcohol policy environment. Darin earned his PhD in social psychology from the University of Missouri.

View Faculty Directory Profile

Rhonda Jones-Webb, DrPH is the Associate Director of Equity and Engagement for the Cannabis Research Center and a professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health. Rhonda’s research focuses on substance use epidemiology and policy, with a special focus on race, social class, and neighborhood influences. She has served as a principle investigator or co-investigator on nearly 40 externally funded research projects and conducted studies on a variety of topics,e.g, alcohol use in African American populations, implementation of policies related to high-alcohol-content beverages, alcohol outlet density, public policy and economic development, and cannabis use). Her current research interests focus on how substance use policies can be more equitably implemented and how communities can ensure all citizens benefit from health policies. Rhonda is also co-director of SPH’s Health Equity Work Group and a member of the Alcohol Epidemiology Program, Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity, and CTSI/ Community Engagement to Advance Research and Community Management Council.

View Faculty Directory Profile

Julie Sanem, PhD manages the Cannabis Research Center. She has spent the past 15+ years developing and implementing strategies to understand and reduce harms associated with substance use and is excited to help the CRC answer the most important research questions related to cannabis and health. Her research interests include substance use policy, harm reduction, and college students. Julie earned her MPH in community health education and PhD in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

Kyle X. Hill, PhD, MPH is Ojibwe (Turtle Mountain Band; Enrolled Citizen), Dakota (Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe), and Lakota (Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe). He is an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health and adjunct faculty at the University of North Dakota, Department of Indigenous Health. He is active in community-based participatory research with American Indian and First Nations communities in the U.S. and Canada, and on research projects across social, behavioral, and environmental health. Kyle’s primary line of research considers the social, political, and ecological determinants of Indigenous health, as well as the intersection of climate justice and Land-based healing within Indigenous communities. Hill has co-authored several manuscripts and book chapters on the impacts of climate change to Indigenous health, particularly mental health. He currently lives on his Dakota and Anishinaabe traditional homelands in St. Paul, MN with his family.

View Faculty Directory Profile

Diana Augustin (they/them, she/hers) is the graduate research assistant for the Cannabis Research Center’s Equity and Engagement Core. As an MPH candidate in the Maternal and Child Health program at the University of Minnesota, Diana’s research interests include structural determinants of maternal and child health, early stages of human development, adverse childhood experiences, and geospatial determinants of maternal and child health.

Eileen Delehanty, MPH is an Epidemiology PhD student at the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the effects of cannabis policy on health. Most recently she has conducted studies on the likelihood of sale of hemp-derived THC products to pseudo-underage buyers in Minnesota and the effects of cannabis policy on workplace use. Eileen holds an MPH in community health promotion from the University of Minnesota and a BS in genetics from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada.

Zidane Galant-LaPorte (she/hers) is a project assistant for the Cannabis Research Center. As an incoming MPH-Community Health Promotion student at the University of Minnesota, her research interests include rural communities’ approach to adolescent health and well-being and equity in public health practices/policies post-COVID-19. She holds a B.A. in Sociology from Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA.

Kenzie Granger (she/her) is a graduate research assistant for the Cannabis Research Center. Kenzie is an MPH candidate in the Policy and Administration program at the University of Minnesota. Her research interests include policy at state and federal levels, social determinants of health for the LGBTQIA+ community, substance use, and accessibility and affordability of quality healthcare in Minnesota. 

Kathleen Lenk (she/hers) is a Senior Research Fellow at the Cannabis Research Center. She has over 25 years of experience in substance use research, with particular expertise in alcohol and cannabis policy. Kathleen is a co-author of over 80 articles in scientific journals and has presented research findings at numerous national conferences. Her contributions to research studies are primarily in data analysis and writing/editing. Kathleen earned her MPH in 1999 from the University of Minnesota.

Ivy Norman (she/her) is a graduate research assistant for the Cannabis Research Center. Ivy is an MPH candidate in the Epidemiology program at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Her research interests include alcohol and cannabis, policy and environmental prevention strategies, and substance use among youth. Ivy holds a B.S. in Psychology and Public Health from the University of Minnesota.

Colin Planalp, MPA is a staff researcher at the Cannabis Research Center. He has more than 15 years in health policy research and communications, including a decade at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. In his work, Colin focuses on helping policymakers and public officials at varying levels of government to use data and research evidence to influence policies that equitably enhance public health. His interest in cannabis research emerged from several years of research into the U.S. opioid crisis, growing levels of alcohol death rates, and other related topics. Colin holds a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Missouri’s Truman School of Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree from the Missouri School of Journalism.

Natalie Scholz, MPH is a Research Fellow in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. She provides data management, statistical analyses and manuscript writing for the Cannabis Research Center. Natalie has more than 15 years of health research experience in academic and non-profit settings. Relating to her interest in substance use, she has been involved in studies on prolonged opioid use and alcohol policy. She holds an MPH degree in epidemiology from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s degree from Trinity University.

Haley Cureton Tompsett, MPH leads communications for the Cannabis Research Center. Haley is dedicated to promoting health and health equity through clear communication that informs and inspires. Prior to joining the CRC, Haley served as Director of Community Well-Being at Mount Madonna, a retreat center that hosts practitioners of spiritual traditions and social justice pursuits. Prior to that, she led communications for Interdisciplinary Research Leaders, a national program center of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focused on building a culture of health in the US. Haley holds an MPH from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, is a NAMA-certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor and lifelong Dalai Lama Fellow.