This is unpublished

Helen
Jack
MD

Helen Jack
Faculty
Pinned
Academic
Assistant Professor, Medicine
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Global Health

biography

Dr. Helen E. Jack is a physician-scientist and a practicing primary care physician. Dr. Jack’s research focuses on the integration of mental health and addiction treatment into high-need, low-resource primary care settings both domestically and in low-income countries. She uses implementation science approaches to study how to expand access to evidence-based behavioral healthcare for people who need it most. Dr. Jack practices primary care with the Washington Department of Corrections in a men’s prison in rural eastern Washington. 

Dr. Jack graduated summa cum laude from Yale University and completed medical school at Harvard Medical School. Prior to beginning her medical training, she earned a second BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar.

Education & Training

  • MD, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (2014–2018)
  • Internship and Residency in Internal Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (2018–2021)

Honors

  • University of Washington Department of Medicine, Chair of Medicine Scholar’s Award (2023)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Global Mental Health Visionary Innovators Shaping Tomorrow’s Advancements (VISTA) Award (2023)
  • Triple I Research Mentor Award for medical student research mentorship (2023)
  • Alpha Omega Alpha (2020)
  • Harborview Annual Housestaff Achievement Award for Clinical Ability and Humanitarian Concern (2020)
  • Center for Primary Care Student Leadership Award, Harvard Medical School (2016)
  • Rhodes Scholarship (2012)
  • Phi Beta Kappa (2011)

Research

Dr. Jack leads two large NIH-funded studies in Washington prisons, both focused on delivery of opioid use disorder treatment. She is the PI of a NIDA R01, part of the Justice Community Overdose Innovation Network (JCOIN), that evaluates strategies for opioid use disorder diagnosis in prisons and tests strategies for supporting patients to make informed decisions about engagement in opioid use disorder care during incarceration. For her research in prisons, she was awarded the NIDA Avenir Award (DP2), an NIH Director’s Award for early career researchers doing ambitious, high-risk research on HIV and substance use.

Since 2013, Dr. Jack has been conducting mental health research and doing research capacity-building in Zimbabwe. Her NIMH-funded career development award (K23) evaluates the implementation of depression guidelines in Zimbabwean primary care. She helped validate the first alcohol and substance use disorder screening tools in the country, facilitating identification and brief interventions for addictions within primary healthcare. Dr. Jack’s focus in Zimbabwe is supporting Zimbabwean junior researchers to conduct and lead culturally relevant mental health research.

Research Interests

Clinical Interests

  • Correctional health
  • Primary care
  • Substance use treatment

publication highlights

  • Jack HE, Arabadjis SD, Sun L, Sullivan EE, Phillips RS. Impact of Community Health Workers on Use of Healthcare Services in the United States: A Systematic Review. J Gen Intern Med. 2017 Mar;32(3):325-344. PMID: 27921257.
  • Kidia K, Machando D, Mangezi W, Hendler R, Crooks M, Abas M, Chibanda D, Thornicroft G, Semrau M, Jack H. Mental health in Zimbabwe: A health systems analysis. Lancet Psychiatry. 2017 Nov;4(11):876-886. PMID: 28625876.
  • Jack HE, Oller D, Kelly J, Magidson JF, Wakeman SE. Addressing substance use disorder in primary care: The role, integration, and impact of recovery coaches. Subst Abus. 2018;39(3):307-314. PMID: 28991516.
  • Jack HE, Merritt C, Medhin G, Musesengwa R, Mafuta C, Gibson LJ, Hanlon C, Sorsdahl K, Chibanda D, Abas M. Developing sustainable capacity-building in mental health research: Implementation outcomes of training of trainers in systematic reviewing. Glob Health Action. 2020;13(1):1715325. PMID: 32041498.
  • Jack HE, Anvari MS, Abidogun TM, Ochieng YA, Ciya N, Ndamase S, Rose AL, Kleinman MB, Myers B, Magidson JF. Applying a mutual capacity building model to inform peer provider programs in South Africa and the United States: A combined qualitative analysis. Int J Drug Policy. 2023 Aug 9;120:104144. PMID: 37567035.
  • Kidia K, Machando D, Dzoro V, Chibanda D, Abas M, Manda E, Mutengerere A, Nyandoro T, Chawarika M, Majichi D, van Dijk JH, Jack H. Rural Friendship Bench: A qualitative study in Zaka district, Zimbabwe. Social Science and Medicine. 2024 Mar 20;348:116791. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116791. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38522147.
  • Jack HE, Smith CL, Brinkley-Rubinstein L, Berk J. Framework for opioid use disorder screening and diagnosis in carceral settings. Int J Drug Policy. 2024 Oct 29;134:104627. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104627. PMID: 39476790.
  • Jack HE, Berger DB, Bobb JF, Oliver MM, Bradley KA, Hallgren KA. Association between change in alcohol use reported during routine healthcare screening and change in subsequent hospitalization: A retrospective cohort study. Addiction. 2025 Jan 27. doi: 10.1111/add.16771. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39868613.
  • Jack HE, Lovett A, Weldemariam H, Alem A, Dali S, Muduma S, Micheni M, Pienaar L, Sunkel C, Senter Z, Shaban M, Chwastiak L, Walker S, Ogunwale A. Priorities for addressing mental health conditions and substance use disorders in prisons in sub-Saharan Africa: expert consensus from a Delphi panel. Lancet Psychiatry. 2025 Apr 15:S2215-0366(25)00067-7. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(25)00067-7. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40250453.
  • Panaccione S, Jack H, Wurcel A, Rich J, Berk J. State-of-the-Art Review: The Intersection of Infectious Diseases and Carceral Medicine. Clin Infect Dis. 2025 Oct 6;81(3):e42-e51. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaf349. PMID: 41047932
NCBI Bibliography