Bio
Alexandra Punch is the director of the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion and Population Health. She received an M.P.A. from Northeastern University in 2012; where she also received a doctorate in law and public policy in 2024.
As Lerner Center director, Punch handles day-to-day operations and oversees the center's health promotion programming. Her interdisciplinary research interests are centered on applied approaches to criminal justice reform, substance use disorders and behaviors, maternal health, and harm reduction policy.
Prior to working at Syracuse University, she served as the director of drug user health at ACR Health. There, she focused on innovative treatment practices and community collaborations for addressing opioid dependence using the Harm Reduction model of care. She also worked at the Onondaga County Health Department as a research technician in the Bureau of Disease Control.
She is a member of the Onondaga County Drug Task Force and the Regional Advisory Committee for the State Opioid Response (SOR) Network, and a board member for the nonprofit organization Child Care Solutions.