On October 25, 2023 and as part of the annual Appalachian Node, WVU hosted a meeting entitled “Building a Healthier Appalachia: Collaborative Solutions to Substance Use Disorders Across the Region” at the WVU Alumni Center (Morgantown, WV). The conference was co-facilitated by the WVU Research Office and brought together policy makers, community leaders, treatment providers, trainees and local as well as national researchers (~60 attendees not affiliated with the node). The goal of the conference was to advance knowledge of empirically based interventions for individuals with substance use disorders and to improve community collaboration to improve outcomes. The conference included nationally renowned speaker Dr. Frances Levin from Columbia University who spoke on research and state-of-the-art treatments for patients with ADHD and co-occurring SUD. Carmen Rosa and Dr. August Holtyn (CCTN) spoke about the role of the NIDA CTN in translating research into practice. Quandra Blackney (NIDA) and Andrew Wilson (Central East ATTC) shared dissemination and implementation resources. Dr. Jane Liebschutz and Donna Beers shared their evidence-based model of collaborative care for patients with SUDs. There was also a community panel, flash talks from researchers at UPIT and WVU, and a poster presentation and networking session. The lunch was provided by Healthy Kids, which is a local non-profit that provides meals for individuals in recovery housing and they have developed a job-training program for individuals in recovery from SUDs. During the conference registration process, attendees were asked to report on the most important drug use/SUD in their communities. This content…

The Learning for Early Careers in Addiction and Diversity (LEAD) program, a NIDA-funded science education program focused on addictions research training, is recruiting assistant professors and assistant research scientists for the Learning for Early Careers in Addiction and Diversity (LEAD) Program for the 2024-2025. The LEAD Program provides training to early-career research scientists from racial/ethnic minoritized groups that are underrepresented in the substance use and substance use disorder research field.  Contact Michael Shopshire, Ph.D., michael.shopshire@ucsf.edu, if you have any questions about the program or your application. The deadline to submit for the 2024-2025 cohort is November 30, 2023! Find the application here. Posted 11/15/2023

The Northeast Node and its parent organization, the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, are pleased to welcome Lynn Fiellin, MD, as a Node Core Investigator and faculty professor of Biomedical Data Science, Medicine, and the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. Dr. Fiellin joins us from the Child Study Center and the School of Public Health at Yale. She is the founding director of the play2PREVENT Lab and of Playbl, Inc. Specifically, her work focuses on developing and testing novel videogame interventions to promote health and reduce risk in youth and young adults. She has received funding from the NIH, the FDA, and the CVS Health Foundation to conduct this work. She and her team of researchers, game developers, youth and community partners have created and evaluated interactive evidence-based digital games addressing mental health, opioid misuse, smoking/vaping, and sexual health and HIV/STI prevention. The Northeast Node is proud to add Dr. Fiellin to our Node’s Core Investigators and look forward to further opportunities to join her important work with that of the CTN. Read the full article here. Posted 11/15/2023

Telehealth & Telemedicine SIG Updates TH/TM SIG November 17th @ 8:30am PT/11:30am ET (see flyer for details) Cynthia Campbell, PhD., and Vanessa Palzes, MPH., will present findings from their study that examined changes in addiction treatment utilization during the first 10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic among adults with drug use problems in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California healthcare system, with a focus on differences by age group, race/ethnicity, and SES. More information about the Telehealth & Telemedicine SIG can be found on the CTN Dissemination Library’s website here. Opioid Use in Rural Communities: A 4-part Series Addressing Implementation and Sustainability of Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Clinical Settings The Greater Southern California Node (GSCN) of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Clinical Trials Network (CTN), in partnership with the Pacific Southwest Addiction Technology Transfer Center (PSATTC), presented a 4-part training series addressing the implementation and sustainability of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in rural settings in early 2023. The series was hosted by Larissa Mooney, M.D., Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and the Director of the Addiction Psychiatry Division in the Department of Psychiatry and Biomedical Sciences at UCLA. Expert clinical researchers and clinicians in rural communities from across the U.S. shared practical knowledge and skills for improving care for patients with OUD. Please note, individuals can earn one-hour of free CMEs and CEUs for each individual course they complete (4 courses total).  If you missed the live sessions and would like to participate in the on-demand course and get…

Photo slideshow (hover over image and click arrows to move through the set): Posted 11/7/2023