Deirdre Dingman is an assistant professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Temple University. Prior to joining the faculty at Temple in 2016, Dr. Dingman completed a RWJF post-doctoral fellowship in Public Health Law Research. Her degrees include a BS in Social Work, PBC in Gerontology, an MPH and DrPH.

Dr. Dingman’s academic career was spread over many years and she has practice experience in the fields of social work and public health. From 2000 to 2007, she worked in a psychiatric unit at a teaching hospital in North Carolina. Many of her patients were admitted for assistance with detox from drugs and/or alcohol and for placement into treatment programs. Many patients had co-occurring mental and physical disorders, that is, they suffered from drug or alcohol dependence, mental illness and chronic pain. The multidisciplinary treatment team managed these conditions utilizing best practices in patient care.

Dr. Dingman moved to Florida in 2007 and until 2010, she worked for an Area Health Education Center (AHEC). She was promoted to senior Tobacco Cessation Specialist, and educated health care professionals on the 5 As of treating tobacco use and dependence.  She left AHEC to further her education. As a doctoral student, Dr. Dingman was part of a team that studied risk drinking in college student athletes.

Dr. Dingman currently teaches several undergraduate and graduate courses. Her areas of expertise include tobacco, alcohol and more recently opioid dependence.  She has personal, professional and educational experience in prevention and treatment of substance use and substance use disorder, and recently received a SAMHSA grant to study the opioid crisis in higher education.