Much of my work can be found on either my Google Scholar Profile or ResearchGate. This page highlights and links to some of my recent works. 

Determinants of Severe Financial Distress in US Acute Care Hospitals: A National Longitudinal Study

Retention on Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder in Justice-Involved Individuals: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Langabeer, J. R., Vega, F. R., Cohen, A. S., Champagne-Langabeer, T., Yatsco, A. J., & Lalani, K. (2026). Determinants of Severe Financial Distress in U.S. Acute Care Hospitals: A National Longitudinal Study. Healthcare, 14(3), 366. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare14030366

Yatsco, A., Vega, F. R., Cohen, A. S., Cardenas-Turanzas, M., Langabeer, J. R., & Champagne-Langabeer, T. (2026). Retention on Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder in Justice-Involved Individuals: A Retrospective Cohort Study. Behavioral Sciences, 16(1), 122. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16010122

Vega, F. R., Lopez, A., Beakley, V., Cohen, A. S., & Champagne-Langabeer, T. (2025). A data-driven analysis of emergency first responder education on substance use and stress management across demographic and professional backgrounds. Discover Education, 4(1), 209. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44217-025-00666-5

Bakos-Block, C., Vega, F. R., Cardenas-Turanzas, M., Gopal, B., & Champagne-Langabeer, T. (2025). Education Improves Perceived Control but Not Risk Identification in Adolescents Regarding Fentanyl. Children, 12(6), 794. https://doi.org/10.3390/children12060794

Lopez, A., Cohen, A. S., Vega, F., & Champagne-Langabeer, T. (2025). Implementation of screening and assessment tools for diagnosing opioid use disorder: A systematic review. Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, 16, 100375. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dadr.2025.100375

Bakos-Block, C., Yatsco, A., Cohen, A. S., Vega, F., & Champagne-Langabeer, T. (2024). “My Addiction Doesn’t Define Me”—Experiences of Stigma among Mothers with Opioid Use Disorder. Pharmacoepidemiology, 3(1), 57-68. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharma3010004

Langabeer, J. R., Vega, F. R., Cardenas-Turanzas, M., Cohen, A. S., Lalani, K., & Champagne-Langabeer, T. (2024). How Financial Beliefs and Behaviors Influence the Financial Health of Individuals Struggling with Opioid Use Disorder. Behavioral Sciences, 14(5), 394. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14050394

Champagne-Langabeer, T. Langabeer, Bakos-Block, C., Vega, F. R., Cardenas-Turanzas, M., Malik, A., Korupolu, R. (2025). Evaluating the Meditation Practices and Barriers to Adopting Mindful Medicine Among Physicians. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine.

Lalani, K., Helton, J., Vega, F. R., Cardenas-Turanzas, M., Champagne-Langabeer, T., & Langabeer, J. R. (2023). The Impact of COVID-19 on the Financial Performance of Largest Teaching Hospitals. Healthcare, 11(14), 1996. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11141996

Submitted Pending Review

Vega, F. R., Champagne-Langabeer, T., Cohen, A. S., Vijendra, R., Langabeer, J.R., Yatsco, A., Bakos-Block, C. (2026). 

Abstracts, Posters and Oral Presentations

Here's a more recent poster we did at the TMC AI Summit 2026. I'm so excited we were accepted! 

In this project, we compare traditional unpaired statistical approaches with AI-assisted thematic interpretation (using ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot) to evaluate Opioid Overdose Education and Naloxone Distribution (OEND) training programs. Key takeaways: both methods converged on meaningful post-training improvements (knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy), while AI added extra “why this matters” clarity by refining themes, proposing scoring logic, and highlighting item-level drivers of change. 

The rest of our posters and oral presentations are found below.

Lopez, A., Vega, F., Minh Le, T., Bakos-Block, C., Integrating Artificial Intelligence into the Evaluation of Opioid Overdose Education Programs. TMC AI Summit, Houston TX., 2026

Yatsco, A., Vega, F., Cohen, A.S., Cardenas-Turanzas, M., Champagne-Langabeer, T. Retention on Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder in Justice-Involved Individuals: A Retrospective Cohort Study. In ACJS 63rd Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, March 6, 2026. 

Vega, F., Breckenridge, E.D., Gemeinhardt, G, Bauer, C., Champagne-Langabeer, T. A Multidimensional Analysis of State Laws Regulating Pediatric Opioid Prescribing Practices. American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., Nov 2025.

Bakos-Block, C., Vega, F., Cohen, A. S., & Champagne-Langabeer, T. (2024). "My addiction doesn't define me": Healing from the stigma of addiction for mothers with opioid use disorder. Journal of opioid management, 20(4), B10. https://doi.org/10.5055/bupe.24.rpj.1020

Vega, F., & Cohen, A. (2024, October). Assessing the success of the Houston emergency response opioid engagement system outreach program. American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, Minn., Oct 2024.

 APHA.

Vega, F., Champagne-Langabeer, T., Bakos-Block, C. Don’t call me an addict: Examining stigma from the lens of mother's healing from opioid use disorder. American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, Minn., Oct 2024. 

Vega, F., & Breckenridge, E. D. Codifying state laws restricting opiate prescribing (2019-2023) for policy surveillance research. American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA., Nov 2023.

Abstracts Submitted

Davis, S., Ngai, M., Cohen, A.S., Vega, F.R., Champagne-Langabeer, T. (Submitted-Pending) Substance Use in Spiti Valley: Patterns of Consumption, Cultural Contexts, and Risk Awareness in a Remote Himalayan Community. Houston Global Health Collaborative Conference. Houston, TX., 2026