Brittany Punches
PhD, MPH, RN, CEN, FAEN
Associate Professor Director of Population Health and Health Services, Department of Emergency Medicine
Biography
Dr. Brittany Punches is an Associate Professor at The Ohio State University College of Nursing and Director of Population Health and Health Services in the Department of Emergency Medicine. She is a doctorally-prepared nurse scientist and emergency care researcher with a PhD and MPH, bringing combined expertise in clinical nursing science and public health to her research program. With significant experience in emergency department (ED) clinical operations, patient perceptions of emergency care, and qualitative and mixed methods, Dr. Punches leads a research program focused on addressing the complex intersections of trauma recovery, pain, and addiction.
Her research centers on understanding patient, nurse, and provider interactions and experiences in episodic, acute care environments such as the ED, and translating that understanding into effective health services and behavioral interventions demonstrated to improve health outcomes. Her primary focus includes disparities in pain management, substance use, and trauma recovery.
Dr. Punches has research on trauma recovery, investigating neurobiological, genetic, and psychosocial predictors of adverse outcomes following acute trauma exposure. Her work in this area spans trauma recovery trajectories, post-traumatic stress, pain, and substance use.
Dr. Punches is the recipient of multiple NIH-funded grants, including an RF1 from NINDS ($5.1 million) to study pain trajectories in emergency department patients and develop predictive models for personalized pain care, and a K08 award from NIDA focused on decision-making factors for therapeutic opioid use after emergency care.
Dr. Punches also serves as Assistant Director of Population Health and Health Services HealthNow, an interdisciplinary program based in the Emergency Department at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center dedicated to improving health for patients in the emergency department and beyond. Learn more at https://u.osu.edu/healthnow/.
Dr. Punches' clinical and scientific training focus on applying health service research to develop and test emergency care prevention interventions to address population health. Her long-term goal is to optimize emergency care psychosocial interventions to prevent and increase access to treatment.
- Mental Health Symptom Screening Among Adult Emergency Department Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study. Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open. 2026. DOI: 10.1016/j.acepjo.2025.100312
- No Place to Rest: Housing Instability and Pain Experiences in the Emergency Department. Journal of Emergency Nursing. 2026. DOI: 10.1016/j.jen.2025.12.003
- Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Pharmacologic and Non-Pharmacologic Pain Management Among Older Cancer Survivors. Cancer Medicine. 2026. DOI: 10.1002/cam4.71536
- Post-traumatic stress and genetic interactions affect tobacco and alcohol use after trauma: findings from a multi-ancestry cohort. Translational Psychiatry. 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41398-025-03593-z
- Childhood Adversity Is Associated With Longitudinal White Matter Changes After Adulthood Trauma. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2025.09.007
- Pre-trauma insomnia and posttraumatic alcohol and cannabis use in the AURORA observational cohort study of trauma survivors. Journal of Psychiatric Research. 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2025.06.027
- Early life adversity increases risk for chronic post-traumatic pain, data from humans and rodents. Pain. 2025. DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003555
- Negative urgency accounts for associations between internalizing symptoms and lifetime nonfatal opioid overdose among patients from three urban Ohio emergency departments. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. 2025. DOI: 10.1037/pha0000764
- Scoping review of associations between cytochrome P450 3A4/5 single nucleotide polymorphisms and risk factors for fentanyl overdose. Pharmacogenomics. 2025. DOI: 10.1080/14622416.2025.2562796
- Development and Validation of the Decisions to use Opioids Measure. Pain Management Nursing. 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.pmn.2024.10.001
- Social Buffering of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Longitudinal Effects and Neural Mediators. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.11.011
- Understanding Onset, Dynamic Transitions, and Associated Inequality Risk Factors for Adverse Posttraumatic Neuropsychiatric Sequelae After Trauma Exposure. Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice. 2024. DOI: 10.1176/appi.prcp.20240017
- Reward Neurocircuitry Predicts Longitudinal Changes in Alcohol Use Following Trauma Exposure. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.09.015
- Brain dynamics reflecting an intra-network brain state is associated with increased posttraumatic stress symptoms in the early aftermath of trauma. Nature Mental Health. 2024. DOI: 10.1038/s44220-024-00377-0
- Punches, B., Soliman, S., Freiermuth, C., Lane, B., Lyons, M. (2020). Emergency Nurses Perceptions of Naloxone in the Emergency Department. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 46(5), 675-681.e1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jen.2020.05.006
- RF1 (NIH/NINDS) -- Punches, BE (PI) Pain Trajectories in Emergency Department Patients $5.1 million, 4-year award Goal: Develop predictive models for personalized pain care
- 5K08DA049948 Punches, BE (PI) 04/01/2021-3/31/2026 NIH/NIDA Decision-Making Factors for Therapeutic Opioid Use after Emergency Care Role: Principal Investigator