Our Team

Dr. Rob Bohler is the executive director of the Center for Addiction Recovery and an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Community Health at the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health (JPHCOPH). He received his PhD in social policy with an emphasis in behavioral health policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, where he was a National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) predoctoral fellow and received training in epidemiology, health services research and health policy, especially in the context of substance use disorder and the opioid crisis. 

Dr. Bohler also holds an MPH with an emphasis in epidemiology from JPHCOPH and an MA in social policy from Brandeis. He is a subject matter expert on substance use and addiction, having served as the lead researcher on the Brandeis Opioid Resource Connector, worked on the HEALing Communities Study and currently working on several projects across the continuum of care, including prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery. 

Dr. Bohler has published reports and academic papers in high-impact journals in the areas of harm reduction, treatment, recovery support services and the opioid crisis, with a particular focus on rural areas. Dr. Bohler has strong relationships with community-based organizations and stakeholders at the local, state and national levels that are responding to substance use and addiction issues and he is a person in long-term recovery.

Julia Curiel, C.A.R.E.S. CPS-AD, has over a decade of administration leadership experience and education to date, serving the community through administrative roles at leading organizations in which she has worked to develop pilot programs and plan and manage large-scale projects, including nationally recognized art fairs, education workshops and community engagement programs. 

She is currently Recovery Coach/Program Coordinator for True Blue Recovery, Georgia Southern University’s collegiate recovery program at the Center for Addiction Recovery. Previously, she served as Recovery Coach/Program Coordinator at Freedom Through Recovery: Susan Ford Recovery Community Organization and House Manager at the Averitt Center for the Arts in Statesboro, GA. 

Having graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Arts Administration from the University of Kentucky in 2006, she has worked for non-profits and the Commonwealth of Kentucky to produce conferences, festivals, galas, trade shows and many other high-profile special events. 

Dr. Ryan Lofaro is an assistant professor in the Department of Public and Nonprofit Studies at the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. He received his Ph.D. in public administration from Florida Atlantic University, where his research focused on health policy and the opioid crisis. 

Dr. Lofaro is a subject matter expert on substance use policy, recovery community organizations and health equity, having secured over $1.3 million in external funding to support community-engaged research on these topics. He has published extensively in high-impact journals on issues related to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), harm reduction policies, rural healthcare access, recovery support services and first responders. 

Dr. Lofaro has strong collaborative relationships with recovery community organizations, harm reduction programs and healthcare providers across Georgia. His work directly informs policy and practice to address the opioid crisis and support individuals in recovery.

Dr. William Mase is a full professor in the Department of Health Policy and Community Health at the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health.

Dr. Gerard Love is a clinical instructor in the Department of Psychology at the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences  and coordinator of the Addiction and Recovery Counseling Program. Dr. Love holds a doctorate in Human Development and Counseling from Vanderbilt University and a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Missouri. 

He developed and implemented the first CACREP accredited addiction counseling program in the state of Pennsylvania and has extensive experience in the training of addiction professionals, residential treatment and collegiate recovery. 

Currently, Dr. Love is coordinating a peer education SUD prevention program at Georgia Southern University through the Pan Hellenic-University Greek Life system.