News from the Nodes
Northeast Node
 The Northeast Node is pleased to announce the start of a new NIDA-funded project designed to evaluate the function, impact, sustainability, and replicability of the Manchester, NH, Fire Department's Safe Station Program.
Safe Station is a community-based initiative focused on reducing barriers to accessing resources and providing a safe community for people with substance use problems.
Anybody with a substance use problem can walk into one of the 10 Manchester fire stations at any time of day or night to seek assistance. Fire department personnel immediately assess each person’s vital signs.
If it is determined that an individual needs immediate medical attention, such as for an overdose, they are provided with naloxone and/or transported to a local emergency department. Individuals interested in connecting with a substance use disorder treatment program are often transported to a program within minutes of entering the fire station.
You can learn more about Safe Station by viewing the Northeast Node's Science Series presentation by Christopher Hickey, the creator of the program.
Since the program’s start in May of 2016, over 2,000 people have utilized Safe Station. This innovative and novel approach to treatment initiation is something Chris Hickey refers to as "just common sense."
"We [emergency responders] are the type of people who see a problem and then find a solution. This seemed like a simple solution to this problem."
Over the next six months, the Northeast Node, alongside partners from the Dartmouth Center for Technology and Behavioral Health, will conduct a systematic evaluation of the Safe Station program to characterize the multi-organizational partnership and workflow of the program, and to identify the active ingredients in this model that are engaging, effective, replicable, and sustainable.
More information about this study and the Safe Station program can be found at the Northeast Node’s website.
 Texas Node
The Texas Node reports that there are 7 study sites from 5 Nodes in 6 states for the Accelerated Development of Additive Pharmacotherapy Treatment (ADAPT-2) for Methamphetamine Use Disorder study. All seven sites have randomized at least 2 participants, and two sites have had their first randomized participant complete the 12 week medication phase.
All sites have continued to gain momentum and as of August 22nd there have been 346 participants pre-screened, 101 have been consented, and 33 have been randomized (study target is 370 by November 2018).
The study as a whole has achieved 94% of the current randomization goal. UTHealth (PI: Joy Schmidt) is leading with 7 randomizations; CODA (PI: Katharina Wiest) and SURC (PI: Ned Nunes) have randomized 6 participants each. All sites are simultaneously working hard on retention.
Intervention adherence is going well with 80% oral medication adherence and 87% injectable medication adherence for active participants.
Special recognition goes to SURC in New York City (PI: Ned Nunes) for their low pre-screen to randomization ratio (6 pre-screens: 2 consents: 1 randomization). |
Mid-Southern Node
 The Mid-Southern Node is pleased to announce to the CTN community that 3 paired sites have been selected for the CTN-0075 Buprenorphine Physician-Pharmacist Collaboration in the Management of Patients with Opioid Use Disorder (Pharm-OUD-Care) study.
The 3 paired sites are:
- Duke Outpatient Clinic and Josef’s Pharmacy;
- Carolina Performance and Health Park Pharmacy; and
- Changes by Choice and Clinic Pharmacy.
All sites are located in the Durham-Raleigh area of North Carolina.
Dr. Li-Tzy Wu, MA, ScD, PI of the Mid Southern Node, and Dr. Paolo Mannelli, MD, are Lead Investigators for CTN-0075. CTN-0075 will explore the feasibility of a physician-pharmacist collaborative care model for the management of buprenorphine treatment for patients with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD). Results will be used to inform the design of a future randomized clinical trial and ultimately increase treatment access for patients with OUD.
The training and coaching phase of participating sites is projected to begin in the fall. We anticipate study enrollment to begin by December. We thank the NIDA CCTN, DSC2, and CCC for their important contribution to CTN-0075.
New England Consortium
 Gail D’Onofrio, MD from the New England Consortium Node (Yale University School of Medicine) was recently quoted in an article, "Here’s How a Key Part of the Opioid Legislation is Not Working," by Catie Edmondson, in the Boston Globe on July 23, 2017, which described a component of a Massachusetts law enacted last year to address the opioid epidemic by referring patients to treatment for substance use who voluntarily complete a brief evaluation in hospital Emergency Departments.
Read the article here.
 Western States
In collaboration with the Northwest ATTC, Pacific Southwest ATTC, National Frontier and Rural ATTC, the Western States Node of the NIDA Clinical Trials brings you the free webinar: Understanding & Using ASAM Criteria in Substance Use Disorder Treatment Settings,
Monday, September 18th, 2017, 11:00 - 12:30 pm PST.
The presenter, Andrew Kurtz, MA, LMFT, Clinical Specialist at the UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs (ISAP), will provide an overview of ASAM criteria and instruction on its utilization to determine the appropriate treatment of patients, based on their level of care.
After the webinar, participants will be able to:
- list the six dimensions of multidimensional patient assessment,
- describe the five broad levels of care recommended by ASAM criteria, and
- explain how to apply ASAM risk ratings to information gathered through multidimensional assessment.
This free webinar is open to all providers and has been NAADAC approved for 1.5 contact hours. Following participation in the webinar, attendees will be able to receive certificates indicating the number of contact hours. |
The 2017 winners of NIDA’s Addiction Science Awards, part of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), presented their projects to NIDA scientists on July 28.
Smoking-Related Outcomes and Associations with Tobacco-Free Policy in Addiction Treatment, 2015-2016. Guydish JR, et al. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 2017 (in press). 
