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News from the Appalachian Node
Laura Lander, MSW, AADC, co-PI of the CTN Appalachian Node and an associate professor in the West Virginia University School of Medicine’s Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry and Department of Neuroscience, was recently appointed to the statewide expert panel of the West Virginia First Foundation. In the appointment, Lander will be part of a comprehensive group of six experts that assist the Foundation’s board in making financial decisions regarding strategies for abating the opioid epidemic in local communities around the state. “I am honored to have been chosen for the expert panel and entrusted with making decisions on how best to help the people of West Virginia most impacted by the addiction epidemic. The impacts of addiction are far reaching, affecting individuals, families and entire communities. The WV First Foundation monies can make a huge impact on healing and rebuilding communities and increasing access to recovery resources including evidence-based treatment. Making sure people’s basic needs are met for healthy food, safe housing and access to quality healthcare must be our starting points,” said Lander. Lander’s effective date begins August 2, 2024 and runs through at least December 31, 2024 with the possibility of reappointment. The West Virginia First Foundation was established to oversee and distribute the majority of the state’s opioid settlements won in lawsuits against opioid manufacturers and distributors.
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New in the Library (August-September 2024)
Here are the latest items added to the CTN Dissemination Library for August – September 2024 (this post will be updated as new items come in): Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Community Hospitals. Shearer R, et al. Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment 2024 (in press). (CTN-0098) A Scoping Review of Social Determinants of Health’s Impact on Substance Use Disorders Over the Life Course. Lin C, et al. Journal of Substance Use & Addiction Treatment 2024 (in press). Impact of COVID-19 on MOUD Retention in a Sample of Rural Primary Care Patients: A Secondary Analysis of Electronic Health Records. Calhoun S, et al. Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports 2024;12:100276. (CTN-0102) Association of Initial Opioid Prescription Duration and an Opioid Refill by Pain Diagnosis: Evidence from Outpatient Settings in Ten US Health Systems. Nguyen AP, et al. Preventive Medicine 2024;179:107828. (CTN-0084) Learning Optimal Dynamic Treatment Regimes from Longitudinal Data. Williams NT, et al. American Journal of Epidemiology 2024 (in press). Sociodemographic and Patient Reported Outcomes by Racial and Ethnicity Status Among Participants in a Randomized Controlled Trial for Methamphetamine Use Disorder. Okafor CN, et al. Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports 2024;11:100230. (CTN-0068) Offering Nurse Care Management for Opioid Use Disorder in Primary Care: Impact on Emergency and Hospital Utilization in a Cluster-Randomized Implementation Trial. Bobb JF, et al. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 2024;261:111350. (CTN-0074) Trauma Prevalence and Its Association With Health-Related Quality of Life in Pregnant Persons with Opioid Use Disorder. Winhusen TJ,…
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News from the PNW Node: Videos & Factsheets about XR-Injectable Buprenorphine
Buprenorphine is one of three medications (methadone and naltrexone being the other two) approved for use to treat opioid use disorder. It is available as a film or tablet, and more recently as two long-acting extended-release injectables. Sublocade™ was first to be approved by the FDA in November 2017. More recently, in May 2023, Brixadi™ received approval. In January 2024 it was added to the WA state Medicaid formulary. Fewer clinicians have experience using Brixadi™ than Sublocade™. The CTN Pacific Northwest Node has developed a set of videos and information sheets to help prescribers in their conversations with patients interested in these buprenorphine options. The videos (which are also available in an audio-only podcast format) cover the basics of extended-release buprenorphine, settings & access to medication, who could benefit, the different formulations that are available, how to get patients started, and provider and patient experiences. Find the complete set of educational materials here!
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News from the New England Consortium
Shelly F. Greenfield, M.D., M.P.H. was selected for the class of 2024-2025 in the Harvard Radcliffe Institute Fellowship. Through this Fellowship, Dr. Greenfield will devote time exploring gender-specific longitudinal trends in substance use disorders. Congratulations Dr. Greenfield on this exciting and prestigious Fellowship opportunity! Read more about this year’s Harvard Radcliffe Institute Fellowships here!
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NIDA CCTN Seeking Health Scientist Administrator (Program Officer)
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Center for the Clinical Trials Network (CCTN) is seeking candidates for a Health Scientist Administrator (Program Officer GS-12/13/14) position. The health scientist administrator will provide scientific leadership and collaborate with NIDA Clinical Trials Network (CTN) investigators in the conception, design, development, conduct, and monitoring of clinical trials and other research studies, as well as provide guidance and assistance in the dissemination of research findings. Desired qualifications of candidates include expertise in behavioral, pharmacological, or integrated therapies for substance use/substance use disorders (SUDs), experience in the management of clinical trials, and expertise in implementation science. Expertise in increasing access to SUD medication treatment through collaboration with health systems and pharmacies, expertise in Stimulant Use Disorder treatment, and expertise in treatment of SUDs in youth are of particular interest. Experience as an NIH Program Officer or contracting officer’s representative (COR) with HHS/NIH COR Level III certification is also desired but not required. Essential skills include excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to work with diverse groups of researchers and community partners, and demonstrated scientific leadership and management skills. For additional information or to express interest in the position, please send your resume/CV to Dr. Kristen Huntley at huntleyk@mail.nih.gov. Applicants should apply to a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Global Recruitment announcement through USAjobs.gov. If interested, please prepare to apply to the upcoming Health Scientist Administrator Global announcement for GS-12/13/14 (Program Officer), which will be open 9/16/2024 – 9/25/2024. Applicants to previous global recruitment announcements and remote work global recruitment announcements for…
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News from the Greater Southern California Node
Upcoming Telehealth (TH) & Telemedicine (TM) Special Interest Group (SIG) on 09/13/2024 @ 8:30am PT/11:30am ET (see flyer attached for additional information) Publication announcements:
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News from the DSC
The Data and Statistics Center is pleased to share that Kathryn Hefner, PhD, who joined Emmes in May 2019, now serves as a Multi-PI of the DSC, alongside PI Jennifer McCormack. Kathryn’s responsibilities as MPI span a variety of areas, including oversight of the DSC’s DSMB support for the CTN; support and mentorship of the DSC Project Leaders; and scientific oversight of the DSC portfolio which includes consultation on CRF development to ensure data capture is clinically, scientifically, and psychometrically sound, and in line with the scientific aims of the study. In addition to helping to support and manage the DSC program as a whole, Kathryn currently serves as the DSC Project Leader on CTN-0108 and CTN-0132, and is a Co-Lead Investigator on CTN-0126. She has also supported CTN-0097, CTN-0105, CTN-0098A and B, CTN-0107, CTN-0109, CTN-0116, and CTN-0139 as a project leader, providing her with well-rounded familiarity with studies and research teams across the CTN. Kathryn brings to the CTN 18 years’ experience in clinical research in substance use disorder research funded by NIDA, NIAAA and the Veterans’ Health Administration, as well as a background in preclinical behavioral neuroscience and laboratory experimental research (alcohol challenge, psychophysiology/EEG, withdrawal studies) in SUD. As a licensed clinical psychologist, she is thrilled to bring her experiences working with individuals with substance use disorder clinically, and in researching the etiology and treatment of addiction, to her support of the CTN in this role. Posted August 28, 2024
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News from the Appalachian Node
CTN-0139 (Collaborative Care for Polysubstance use in Primary Care Settings (Co-Care) (NIH HEAL Initiative)) held a training for Clinical Champions, Nurse Care Managers, and Health Coaches from July 23-24 in Pittsburgh, PA. We had 4 sites attend in person, and one site joined remotely due to last minute travel delays. Dr. Subramaniam also joined us. Aside from the training, we were able to share a nice meal together at Dr. Park’s house and enjoyed exploring the University of Pittsburgh and the city!
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New in the Library (July – August 2024)
Here are the latest items added to the CTN Dissemination Library for July – August 2024 (this post will be updated as new items come in): Performance of the Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription Medication, and Other Substance Use (TAPS) Tool in Screening Older Adults for Unhealthy Substance Use. Han BH, et al. Journal of Addiction Medicine 2024 (in press). (CTN-0059) Analyzing Quality of Life Among People with Opioid Use Disorder from the National Institute on Drug Abuse Data Share Initiative: Implications for Decision Making. Patton T, et al. Quality of Life Research 2024 (in press). (multiple protocols) Delivering MOUD to the Underserved: How Can Pharmacies Really Help? Gustafson DH, et al. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 2024 (in press). (CTN-0124 Primary Outcomes) High Suicidality Predicts Overdose Events Among People with Substance Use Disorder: A Latent Class Analysis. Schmidt RD, et al. Frontiers in Public Health 2023;11:1150062. (multiple protocols) Association of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders with Cannabis Use and Cannabis Use Disorder During Early Pregnancy in Northern California. Young-Wolff KC, et al. Addiction 2024 (in press). (CTN-0140) Psychosocial Factors Linked to Uncontrolled Infection and Mortality Among People Living with HIV Who Use Substances: A Latent Class Analysis. Schmidt RD, et al. AIDS and Behavior 2024 (in press). (CTN-0049, CTN-0064) Suicide and Cannabis Use Among Youth & Young Adults. Hammond CJ & Hinckley JD. CTN Youth Special Interest Group (SIG) webinar, July 2024 Discriminative Validity of a Substance Use Symptom Checklist for Moderate-Severe DSM-5 Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) in…
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Primary Outcomes Paper for CTN-0124: Delivering MOUD to the Underserved: How Can Pharmacies Really Help?
The primary outcomes paper for CTN-0124, Assessment and Design of a Cost-Effective Collaborative MOUD Delivery System, is now available! Citation: Gustafson DH, Molfenter T, Kunes T, Langdon L, Koplin M, Parker F, Branny K, Ghitza U, Bart G. Delivering MOUD to the Underserved: How Can Pharmacies Really Help? Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 2024 (in press). What’s the question? Access to treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) is a challenge in rural settings and for communities of color, partly because of the limited availability of healthcare providers equipped and willing to provide medications for OUD (MOUD). Pharmacies have been increasingly proposed as one way to enhance access to MOUD, as they are often more available in rural and other underserved communities than primary care physicians or other prescribers. A key question, however, is whether or not pharmacies are adequately prepared to distribute medications and other resources to people with OUD. This study aimed to answer that question by examining the potential role of pharmacies in MOUD delivery, looking at what barriers exist, and proposing actionable strategies for improvement. How was this study conducted? To address this issue, the CTN-0124 study team developed a 9-month engineering systems analysis, a problem-solving approach that breaks a system into its individual parts, analyzes how well those parts work together to accomplish their purpose, and creates an aspirational design for the future. To perform this analysis, the study team, made up of 5 systems analysis (3 from health care and 2 from…
