In spring 2026, Dr. Jordan Wulz will travel to Paracelsus Medical University in Salzburg, Austria, where he’ll conduct research and teach on harm reduction strategies for healthcare professionals.
Dr. Jordan Wulz, associate professor of pharmacy practice at Concordia University Wisconsin, has been named a 2026 Fulbright U.S. Scholar, in which he’ll be spending four months abroad in Austria to teach and research.
The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program is available to U.S. citizens that “teach, conduct research, and carry out professional projects around the world.” Over 400 awards are offered in more than 135 countries annually. The Fulbright Scholar awards available vary and are based on where an individual would like to go, what they plan to do, and for how long they want to do it, essentially. These opportunities can last from a few months to one year, and are available to college/university faculty, artists, and professionals from diverse fields.
Wulz, who has been teaching at CUW since 2017—specializing in pain management and public health—felt called to work with students. “I really believe in our students developing into pharmacists who are going to treat every patient they encounter with love, dignity, and respect.”
As a second year applicant, Wulz wasn’t sure how it would pan out. He proceeded to undergo a lengthy application process that began in August 2024. He feels “lucky and grateful” to have found out this past April of his acceptance. Ironically, the good news arrived just months after he found out that his wife is expecting their first child. “We’ll be taking a 5-month-old to Austria with us,” he smiles.
Future Fulbrighter from the School of Pharmacy
“Concordia School of Pharmacy is very proud of our faculty member, Dr. Jordan Wulz, being selected as a Fulbright Scholar,” says Dr. Erik Jorvig, School of Pharmacy’s dean and professor. “We are excited for him to experience the clinical, scientific, and cultural learning exchange that will happen during his collaboration with Paracelsus Medical University in Austria, and look forward to him bringing those insights back to our School.”
As of February 2026, Wulz will be venturing to Europe with his family, to pursue this amazing, cross-cultural opportunity. For four months, Wulz’s time will be divided up with 80 percent going to teaching and 20 percent to research. He plans to do survey data research due to the time restraint and publish it in an academic journal upon return.
Lead with purpose
Wulz is passionate and excited about his upcoming experience and the goals he hopes to accomplish. He will be bringing back the experience gained from working in a more progressive environment when it comes to harm reduction strategies.
These strategies can span the spectrum of what is socially acceptable, according to Wulz, from offering naloxone (or Narcan) to reverse opioid overdoses to overdose prevention centers—physical sites where drug users can get their drugs tested—that also allow access to sterile injection supplies. Note that staff are on hand at these centers with naloxone in case of an overdose.
In Western Europe, overdose prevention centers are much more common. In fact, the first overdose prevention center was established in Switzerland in 1986. In the U.S., harm reduction is primarily based on increasing access to naloxone, drug checking supplies, and sterile injection supplies. However, as of 2021, New York has opened two overdose prevention centers—Western Europe houses over 90 of them.
Wulz’s research will be based on whether or not these centers have a role in increasing engagement with drug treatment. In 2023, the U.S. reported over 100,000 drug overdose deaths, whereas the EU had less than 7,000, he explains. The EU has double the population of the U.S.
The ultimate goal of his research will be to observe the attitudes and perceptions of healthcare professionals in Austria and surrounding European countries to see if a higher acceptance of harm reduction strategies leads to drug users being more likely to engage with treatment. Approximately, 50 percent of opioid drug users in EU are engaging in treatment, whilst there are only about 14 percent in the U.S.
As of today, his hypothesis is yes, especially since the U.S. offers very little harm reduction education in the medical professions.
School of Pharmacy Fun Fact
Concordia University Wisconsin’s School of Pharmacy (CUWSOP) continues its tradition of excellence with its latest residency match rates data surpassing national averages for the eighth year in a row. Read the latest blog.
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