Dr. Varisco is an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes of Policy and Assistant Director for Research Development in the Prescription Drug Misuse Education and Research Center at the University of Houston College of Pharmacy. Dr. Varisco is a registered pharmacist and a trained health services researcher. He holds a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Texas at Austin and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy from the University of Houston College of Pharmacy. His research focuses primarily on evaluating and improving the quality of care for persons with opioid use disorder. In his prior work, Dr. Varisco has leveraged a variety of primary and secondary data techniques to identify and ameliorate systemic barriers to harm reduction and treatment in provider offices and pharmacies. With funding from the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts, Dr. Varisco is currently leading a collaborative effort between three colleges of pharmacy, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, and the National Community Pharmacists Association to create pharmacy specific, evidence based practice guidelines to promote access to buprenorphine in community pharmacies. He is also a co-investigator on the Texas Improved Dissemination and Evaluation of Single Use Disposal Systems (TIDES), a multi-year project funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.