The Learning for Early Careers in Addiction and Diversity (LEAD) program offers mentorship and training to postdoctoral fellows and assistant professors who are pursuing independent research careers in substance use and substance use disorder treatment. This support is aimed at individuals from racial and ethnic minoritized groups who are underrepresented among NIH-funded investigators in this field. The LEAD Program uses the NIDA Clinical Trials Network (CTN) as a platform for training early-careerinvestigators. This 3-year training program is based at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and visiting scholars spend three summers in a 4-week intensive program at UCSF. During the academic year, scholars work with their primary mentor to collaborate on substance use and substance use disorder treatment research conducted in the CTN, develop a professional research network, and conduct a pilot study that will serve as a preliminary study for subsequent NIH funding. The program provides travel and housing funds for scholars, as well as pilot study funding. The 2025 summer program begins on July 7th and ends August 1st. The application deadline is April 15, 2025! Learn more and apply here!

Jane Liebschutz (Appalachian Node), Rebecca Stone (NY Node) and Donna Beers (Boston Medical Center) traveled to Enterprise OR to conduct a site visit at Winding Waters, a federally qualified health center participating in CTN 139-CoCare.  The three city slickers enjoyed their first taste of Frontier designation, which is less than 6 people per square mile. The view was stunning with snow capped peaks and a gorgeous river. But what impressed us all was the dedication and smooth running of the clinic. The five physicians and three physician assistants provide primary care, mental health or dental health to 80% of the population in the area.  The program joined CTN-139 as part of the Care for Health Initiative, which supports multiple rural primary care research networks around the US. The research team, from both local and more distant locations in Oregon, showed the lead team how coherent leadership and dedication can make a low resourced area function well.  We expect them to start patient recruitment by early April at the latest.  Also: The Union Community Care site in Lancaster, PA has begun patient recruitment and so far in March have enrolled 6 participants! Posted on March 14, 2025

The Primary Care SIG aims to engage primary care in research, develop substance use treatment interventions relevant to community-based practice, and promote the transfer of evidence-based results from substance use research into community-based practices.   Primary Care SIG Key Objectives Primary Care SIG Webinars and presentations The Primary Care SIG is led by Joe LeMaster, MD, MPH and Sebastian Tong, MD, MPH, and meets every other month on the 4th Monday of the month from 9-10am PT/12-1pm ET.  To join the Primary Care SIG webinar series listserv, please provide your contact information here: https://redcap.link/PCSIG Next Primary Care SIG Meeting  Implementing Practice Facilitation to Enhance Chronic Pain and Opioid Management in Older AdultsMarch 24, 2025 9-10am PT/12-1pm ET Zsolt Nagykaldi, PhD, BTh Professor, Director of Research Associate Director of Community Engaged Research Department of Family & Preventive Medicine   University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center  Juell Homco, PhD, MPH Assistant Professor Director of Research and Community Analytics Associate Director of Oklahoma Primary Healthcare Improvement CooperativeDepartment of Medical Informatics  University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine   Heather Gamble, BS Community Outreach Manager (Practice Facilitator) Oklahoma Shared Clinical and Translational Resources University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center  Register for the Primary Care SIG Meeting here Posted on March 14, 2025