Dr. Victoria Zhang’s research examines social networks, norm-violating professional practices, and behavioral change. She applies an interdisciplinary approach—drawing from sociology, health services research, and network science—to address pressing social challenges. She draws from longitudinal administrative claims data to investigate how norm-violating practices spread in social networks and how to disrupt these processes to drive behavioral change. Her research has also documented unmet treatment needs and evaluated various healthcare policies in the prescription opioid crisis.

Dr. Zhang’s research has appeared in leading journals in both management and medicine, including Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, JAMA, JAMA Psychiatry, and Health Affairs. Her research on the role of provider networks in the prescription drug crisis was recognized by the 2024 Responsible Research in Management Award and featured in Administrative Science Quarterly’s 2024 Special Issue on Healthcare and Organization Theory.

Education

  • Ph.D. Management and Organizations, Yale University
  • B.A. Economics, Cornell University
  • B.A. Mathematics, Cornell University

Awards & Recognition

  • 2024 Winner of Responsible Research in Management Award (RRBM)
  • 2023 Erwin A. Gaumnitz Distinguished Junior Faculty Research Award, Wisconsin School of Business

Selected Publications

  • Zhang, V., Mohliver, A. C., & King, M. (2023). Where is all the deviance? Liminal prescribing and the social networks underlying the prescription drug crisis. Administrative Science Quarterly, 68(1), 228-269.
  • Zhang, V., & King, M. D. (2021). Tie decay and dissolution: Contentious prescribing practices in the prescription drug epidemic. Organization Science, 32(5), 1149-1173.
  • Olfson, M., Zhang, V. S., Schoenbaum, M., & King, M. (2020). Trends in buprenorphine treatment in the United States, 2009-2018. JAMA, 323(3), 276-277.
  • Olfson, M., Zhang, V., Schoenbaum, M., & King, M. (2020). Buprenorphine treatment by primary care providers, psychiatrists, and addiction specialists, and other prescribers. Health Affairs, 39(6), 984-992. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2019.01622
  • Zhang, V. S., Olfson, M., & King, M. (2019). Opioid and benzodiazepine coprescribing in the United States before and after US Food and Drug Administration boxed warning. JAMA Psychiatry, 76(11), 1208-1210.