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Franz is a medical sociologist and health services researcher whose research and teaching focus on health disparities, population health, and substance use. She is an associate professor of Community-based Health at the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, in Athens, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ and Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Ralph S. Licklider, D.O. Endowed Faculty Fellow in Population Health Science.

She received an M.A. in religious studies from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Miami. Franz has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and books on community and population health, including hospital-based population health programs and their potential to increase access to services among underserved populations and for individuals with opioid use disorder.

She also leads a productive research program on how continued racial resentment in the U.S. serves as a fundamental barrier to health equity and population health improvement. She currently leads two NIH-funded studies focused on increasing access to opioid use disorder services in rural and urban underserved communities.