Dr Qiana Brown is Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work and the Director of the HRSA Maternal and Child Health training programme at Rutgers University, and the founder of Jane’s House of Inspiration. She was interviewed by Dr Sally Marlow in 2018 for the Women in Addiction project. Qiana talks about variety in her career – from serving in the army to studying psychology, and later specialising in epidemiology – and describes the importance of strong mentors, role models, and champions for women in addiction science.