About

Bio

Dr. Orrin D. Ware grew up in Oxon Hill, Maryland, in a neighborhood called Forest Heights just a 15-minute walk from Washington, DC, where the nation’s laws are made. From an early age, he saw how people in need of addiction treatment, mental health care, or social support often struggled to find and access the services they needed. He continued to see these challenges in Baltimore, Maryland, where he has spent most of his adult life. These experiences helped shape his commitment to researching mental health and substance use and sharing knowledge that can benefit individuals, families, and communities.

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Dr. Ware’s professional experience spans pediatric HIV services and residential and outpatient substance use disorder (addiction) treatment. For years, he worked late-night shifts from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. on a mobile HIV testing van in high-risk areas, including communities where sex work occurred and substances were traded. In West Baltimore, he worked as a licensed social worker in a crisis stabilization unit serving people who had been resuscitated following an overdose or were experiencing severe intoxication. He also worked on the front line in the admissions unit of a residential treatment program, where he encountered people at the beginning of their addiction treatment journey.

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As a university faculty member, Dr. Ware has published over 70 peer-reviewed academic publications on mental health and substance use disorders. He has spoken to a wide range of audiences, including academic and community organizations, medical students and residents, people receiving treatment, social work students, and other groups. He has also presented his research internationally, including in Canada, England, and Spain.

Dr. Ware has been selected for competitive award and fellowship programs, including the the Addiction Health Services Research Early Career Investigator Award, Brandeis-Harvard SPIRE Center Scholars Program, the Journal of Addiction Medicine Editorial Fellowship, and the Stanford C-DIAS Fellowship. His research has been featured in Newsweek, The Telegraph, U.S. News & World Report, and Vice.