A recent publication by Health System Node faculty, Stacy Sterling, DrPH, MSW, MPH, was selected as one of the top Quality Improvement/Implementation Science publications in the Journal of General Internal Medicine: A Randomized Trial of Alcohol Telemedicine in Primary Care: Pharmacotherapy and Referral Outcomes. J Gen Intern Med. 2026 Jan;41(1):6-15. Dr. Sterling presents this project in this JGIM webinar (if you’re not already a JGIM/SGIM member, you must register, but it’s straightforward and free). A new study led by Anh Nguyen, PhD, Health System Node faculty and Investigator at the Kaiser Permanente Colorado Institute for Health Research, published in JAMA Psychiatry showed that experiencing health plan disenrollment after initiating medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD)—such as buprenorphine or naltrexone—is a significant risk factor for elevated mortality. Losing or changing insurance coverage disrupts continuous treatment and significantly increases the likelihood of fatal overdoses and all-cause mortality. This important work was recently highlighted by Dr. Yngvild Olsen, former Director of the SAMHSA Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, in her expert testimony before the US House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the overdose crisis.

The Southwest Node is hosting an upcoming webinar, featuring speakers Kamilla Venner, PhD, and Aimee Campbell, PhD, MSW, and reviewing results from CTN-0096. Partnering with Tribal Serving Programs to Enhance Culture in the Delivery of Substance Use Disorder Treatment June 9, 2026 | 11am EDT | Download flyer This project looked at adding culture to care for Alaska Native and American Indian people who had problems with opioid use. The care was medication treatment. We wanted to see if culture would help more people start and stay in treatment. We worked with four clinics. We invited Alaska Native and American Indian people to be on our Collaborative Board to help us with this project. Two American Indian women led groups at each clinic. Each clinic chose its own way to include culture in medication treatment. After culture was added, Alaska Native and American Indian customer-owners were more likely to start treatment and more likely to stay in treatment. These results suggest that including culture can help improve services for Alaska Native and American Indian people. Join the Zoom session here!Meeting ID: 977 4576 0996Passcode: SWCTN

On behalf of the CTN New York Node and our academic partners, including Dr. Denise Hien at Rutgers University, big congratulations to Dr. Margaret (Peggy) Swarbrick on her New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies (NJAMHAA) Trailblazer in Wellness Award! Dr. Swarbrick is the Associate Director of the Rutgers Center of Alcohol & Substance Use Studies and a Research Professor at the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. The Center of Alcohol & Substance Use Studies and the larger Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology community celebrate Dr. Peggy Swarbrick, deserving recipient of the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies (NJAMHAA) Trailblazer in Wellness Award! This honor is part of the organization’s Diamond Courage & Compassion Awards, recognizing leaders who have made outstanding contributions to behavioral health systems over their remarkable three-quarters of a century history. Dr. Swarbrick will be recognized in April at the NJAMHAA75 Spring Conference. We applaud her unwavering dedication, indelible impact, and continuous efforts to advance wellness and recovery-focused care! Read more about Dr. Swarbrick and her award here! Posted on April 10, 2026.

A new Addiction Science and Clinical Practice paper co-authored by Pacific Northwest Node researchers Crystal Smith and Cindy Grande describes a new, reliable strategy that allows fentanyl users to start treatment without prolonged suffering: low-dose ketamine. Fentanyl continues to cause the majority of drug overdoses in the U.S. Buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder (OUD), is effective and saves lives, but people often avoid it for fear of painful opioid withdrawal symptoms that can occur when starting the medication. The paper, published in early February, reports on a (non-CTN) study that found an extremely low intramuscular dose of ketamine before starting patients on buprenorphine led to a rapid and significant reduction of withdrawal symptoms in nearly all patients using fentanyl — with no side effects. Most patients could then immediately start buprenorphine without a return of withdrawal symptoms. In emergency departments, a high dose of ketamine, causing intense drowsiness, has been shown to reverse withdrawal symptoms after starting buprenorphine. This study was the first to find that an undetectably low dose of ketamine could both relieve fentanyl withdrawal and prevent renewed symptoms after starting buprenorphine. Read the paper, published in Addiction Science and Clinical Practice Posted on March 3, 2026

Are you interested in expanding the impact of your CTN study or exploring new research questions using existing CTN datasets? The Secondary Analysis Special Interest Group (SIG) invites you to join our collaborative community! We welcome: Our group provides a supportive environment to discuss concepts, share methodologic insights, and develop high-impact secondary analyses that advance the CTN mission. If you are interested in presenting, collaborating, or attending our meetings, please contact Jerry Cochran (jerry.cochran@hsc.utah.edu) or Kristi Carlston (kristi.carlston@hsc.utah.edu) with the Greater Intermountain Node. We look forward to connecting with you and supporting the next wave of innovative CTN research. Posted on February 18, 2026

Sarah Kawasaki, MD, Co-Investigator of the CTN Appalachian Node was quoted in a recent New Yorker article entitled, “Can Ozempic Cure Addiction?“ GLP-1 medications like Ozempic mimic a naturally occurring hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1, which scientists have historically associated with digestion. But it’s increasingly clear that GLP-1 affects much more than eating, and these medications are now being studied as potential treatments for a number of conditions, including addiction. (There are currently two CTN trials involving GLP-1 medications: CTN-0152 and CTN-0153.) Sarah Kawasaki, chief of addiction services at Penn State Health, collaborated on a human trial for opioid addiction in which a GLP-1 was being tested on 20 people at a residential treatment center. The results were promising: 10 people received the medication and 10 received a placebo; people on the GLP-1 medication (liraglutide) reported 40% fewer cravings. Now Kawasaki is helping lead a trial of hundreds of people with opioid addiction, living in a community rather than a treatment center, and they are on multiple medications: semaglutide (a GLP-1), as well as either methadone or buprenorphine. Check out the complete New Yorker article here! (free version for non-subscribers) Posted on February 18, 2026