AND HELPS OTHERS –
April 19, 2024 – “My dad is a doctor, I grew up in the suburbs and kind of had every advantage. That mattered; it mattered in terms of my addiction and my recovery.”
Today, Elswick is an assistant extension professor in the University of Kentucky‘s School of Human Environmental Sciences. He has master’s and doctoral degrees from the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, which includes the school. His work focuses on substance-use prevention and recovery across the state. He is a founding member of Lexington’s Voices of Hope, a substance-use disorder community center focused on research-based recovery treatment.
Elswick’s passion for recovery education did not initially blossom from research. For many, addiction can start before an individual ever touches a substance. At age 18, he underwent wisdom-tooth surgery and was prescribed opioid painkillers. Risk factors, such as family history or mental illness, can seriously increase one’s likelihood for addiction. Elswick faced both.
