2. Profile
  3. Niranjan S. Karnik

Niranjan S. Karnik MD PhD

Niranjan S. Karnik
Designation
  • The J. Usha Raj Professor
  • Director, Institute for Juvenile Research, Department of Psychiatry
  • Interim Director, AI.Health4All Center, College of Medicine
  • Co-Director, Center for Clinical & Translational Science, UIC
  • Co-Director, Institute for Research on Addictions, UIC
Gender Pronouns
  • he/him
  • nkarnik [at] uic.edu
  • Institute for Juvenile Research (IJR)
    1747 W. Roosevelt Rd.
    Chicago IL 60612
  • Room #:247 WROB
Website Assistant
  • Nenora Anderson
  • neno [at] uic.edu

Dr. Niranjan Karnik is an internationally recognized leader in psychiatry and behavioral health innovation. He holds the prestigious J. Usha Raj Professorship of Psychiatry & Pediatrics at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), where he serves as Director of the Institute for Juvenile Research, Co-Director of the Institute for Research on Addictions, Co-Director of the Center for Clinical & Translational Science, and Interim Director of the AI.Health4All Center. He also holds an appointment as a WOC Research Scientist at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center. Dr. Karnik’s groundbreaking research integrates data science, digital health, and community-based interventions to address psychiatric and substance use disorders among society’s most vulnerable populations.

His work is deeply rooted in service and impact, from designing and leading clinical and research programs for the nationally recognized Road Home Program for veterans and their families, to advancing research through the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network. His global and domestic service spans refugee camps along the Pakistan-Afghan border, street and foster youth in India and Illinois, incarcerated youth in California, and homeless youth in Chicago and San Francisco.

Dr. Karnik has developed programs in psychosocial oncology, community mental health, collaborative care models for depression, and digital screening and intervention for substance use. As Principal Investigator or Co-PI on multiple NIH-funded grants (NIDA, NCATS), he is at the forefront of translational research and implementation science. His contributions have been recognized with election as a Distinguished Fellow of both the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
 

  • Youth experiencing homelessness, mental health disparities, substance use, informatics, health equity, community-based interventions, system-based interventions, adolescence and young adults
  • Great Lakes Node of the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network

    Great Lakes Node supports clinical trials that are done with coordination with the NIDA supported Clinical Trials Network.

  • Mobile Technologies to support Youth Experiencing Homelessness

    Our team, in collaboration with researchers at the University of California, Irvine, is working to develop smartphone and mobile technology intervention to support youth experiencing homelessness as they transition from the street to more stable housing. The goal is to deploy pragmatic mental health interventions at a time when they may not be able to access traditional office-based care.

  • Data Science Approaches to Screening for Substance Use

    In this set of projects, we are working to develop data science-driven algorithms that can help identify patients who may have substance use disorders. The goal is to promote early and universal screening with a goal of deploying treatment and prevention efforts in a precision-medicine framework.

    1. Chhabra N, Smith D, Dickinson G, Caglianone L, Taylor RA, D'Onofrio G, Karnik NS. Trends and Disparities in Initiation of Buprenorphine in US Emergency Departments, 2013-2022. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Sep 3;7(9):e2435603. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.35603. PMID: 39325455; PMCID: PMC11428009.
    2. Summersett Williams F, Zaniletti I, Masonbrink AR, Garofalo R, Rahmandar M, Karnik NS, Donenberg G, Kuhns L. Substance Use Emergency Department Visits Among Youths With Chronic Conditions During COVID-19. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Oct 1;7(10):e2435059. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.35059. PMID: 39365582; PMCID: PMC11581538.
    3. Emezue C, Dan-Irabor D, Froilan A, Dunlap A, Zamora P, Negron S, Simmons J, Watkins J, Julion WA, Karnik NS. Evaluating an App-Based Intervention for Preventing Firearm Violence and Substance Use in Young Black Boys and Men: Usability Evaluation Study. JMIR Form Res. 2024 Nov 26;8:e60918. doi: 10.2196/60918. PMID: 39589765; PMCID: PMC11632291.
    4. Erukulla R, Soleimani M, Woodward M, Karnik N, Joslin C, McMahon T, Scanzera A, Shorter E, Yoon H, Cortina M, Cruz J, Jain S, Saeed H, Tu E, Rosenblatt M, Djalilian A. Socioeconomic and Demographic Disparities in Keratoconus Treatment. Am J Ophthalmol. 2024 Nov 29:S0002-9394(24)00553-1. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2024.11.023. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39617116.
    5. Idnay B, Xu Z, Adams WG, Adibuzzaman M, Anderson NR, Bahroos N, Bell DS, Bumgardner C, Campion T, Castro M, Cimino JJ, Cohen IG, Dorr D, Elkin PL, Fan JW, Ferris T, Foran DJ, Hanauer D, Hogarth M, Huang K, Kalpathy-Cramer J, Kandpal M, Karnik NS, Katoch A, Lai AM, Lambert CG, Li L, Lindsell C, Liu J, Lu Z, Luo Y, McGarvey P, Mendonca EA, Mirhaji P, Murphy S, Osborne JD, Paschalidis IC, Harris PA, Prior F, Shaheen NJ, Shara N, Sim I, Tachinardi U, Waitman LR, Wright RJ, Zai AH, Zheng K, Lee SS, Malin BA, Natarajan K, Price Ii WN, Zhang R, Zhang Y, Xu H, Bian J, Weng C, Peng Y. Environment scan of generative AI infrastructure for clinical and translational science. Npj Health Syst. 2025;2(1):4. doi: 10.1038/s44401-024-00009-w. Epub 2025 Jan 25. PMID: 39872195; PMCID: PMC11762411.
    6. Dickins KA, Houlihan MCK, Kim A, Dixon I, Reed M, Karnik NS. Traumatic Stress Among Women who are Incarcerated: A Community Engaged Approach to Determining Needs and Opportunities for Intervention. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2025;36(1):295-326. doi: 10.1353/hpu.2025.a951598. PMID: 39957651.
    7. Stiles-Shields C, Bobadilla G, Reyes K, Gustafson EL, Lowther M, Smith DL, Frisbie C, Antognini C, Dyer G, MacCarthy R, Martinengo N, Morris G, Touranachun A, Wilkens KM, Julion WA, Karnik NS. Digital Mental Health Screening, Feedback, and Referral System for Teens With Socially Complex Needs: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial Integrating the Teen Assess, Check, and Heal System into Pediatric Primary Care. JMIR Res Protoc. 2025 Feb 18;14:e65245. doi: 10.2196/65245. PMID: 39965196; PMCID: PMC11888113.
    8. Chhabra N, Hu H, Feinstein RT, Karnik NS. Stigmatizing Language in Substance Use-related International Classification of Diseases Codes. J Addict Med. 2025 Mar 3. doi: 10.1097/ADM.0000000000001462. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40028905.
    9. Kelly SW, Donohue SE, Rospenda K, Moilanen KL, Karnik NS, Herron JD, Johnson TP, Richman JA. The relationship between gender identity, economic stressors, social support, concurrent substance use and suicidal ideation. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2025 Mar 11. doi: 10.1007/s00127-025-02868-6. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40067366.
    10. Chhabra N, Smith D, Parde N, Hsing-Smith N, Bianco JM, Taylor RA, D'Onofrio G, Karnik NS. Racial, ethnic, and sex disparities in buprenorphine treatment from emergency departments by discharge diagnosis. Acad Emerg Med. 2025 Apr 25. doi: 10.1111/acem.70035. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40277252.