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 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 (C.A.R.E.S. CPS-AD) 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 Averitt Center for the Arts in Statesboro, GA. Having graduated with honors 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 other events with her capable and highly productive team members.

Tom Harris is a Graduate Assistant with the Center for Addiction Recovery and a Master of Public Health student at Georgia Southern University with a concentration in Community Health. He brings both academic training and lived experience to his work, with a focus on collegiate recovery, recovery-supportive systems, and reducing barriers to care. Tom is especially interested in how public health can support sustainable recovery through evidence-based programs, policy, and community-driven solutions. He is committed to helping create campus environments where students in recovery can succeed and feel supported.

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 PhD 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 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, and his work directly informs policy and practice to address the opioid crisis and support individuals in recovery.

Dr. Jacquelyn Mesenbrink-Sainz is an Assistant Professor in Health Sciences and Kinesiology in the Waters College of Health Professions. Her scholarship centers on harm reduction and community health, with a focus on sexual violence and trauma-informed care. This work has extended from community settings into healthcare environments. As a Health Sciences faculty, she has also expanded her research to include opioid prevention, treatment and recovery, drawing on a strong foundation in qualitative research.

Dr. William Mase is a Professor of Health Policy and Management. Dr. Mase earned his doctorate in public health from the University of Kentucky College of Public Health,
where his focus was on public health organizational operation and workforce trust relationships. He also earned a Master of Public Health degree from the Ohio State University College of Public Health and a Master of Arts degree in Sociology from the
West Virginia University Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Mase brings over 30 years of experience as both an academic and practice-based public health professional. Prior to joining the faculty of Georgia Southern University, Dr. Mase served on faculty at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (2008 – 2014) and Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine (1993-2008).

Dr. Mase has served on seven grants and contracts in support of addiction recovery since 2024 when he began working with the recovery focus area and assisting the faculty and staff of the Center for Addiction Recovery. He leads the critical access hospital project at the Center for Addiction Recovery.

Dr. Gerard Love is a clinical instructor of addiction & recovery counseling. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Saint Norbert College, Master’s in Counseling Psychology from the University of Missouri – Columbia, and his Doctorate in Human Development Counseling from Vanderbilt University.

Dr. Love established the first Addiction Counseling Master’s program in Pennsylvania, receiving CACREP accreditation. His areas of expertise are substance use disorder treatment and recovery, collegiate recovery programming, and diversity training. Love’s most recent clinical experience was as an Executive Director of an inpatient substance use disorder treatment program, he served as the Executive Director of Collegiate Recovery and Intervention Services at the University of Alabama.

He is an adjunct faculty member at Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School. His teaching experience includes, Group, Social and Cultural Diversity, Lifespan Development, Substance Use Disorders. Dr.Love’s research interests include the role of nutrition and wellness in recovery and identity development in early and ongoing recovery.