Let’s Talk About Drugs in the Intermountain West Podcast The Greater Intermountain Node is housed within the Program of Addiction Research, Clinical Care, Knowledge, and Advocacy (PARCKA) at the University of Utah. As part of its outreach and advocacy efforts, PARCKA produces a weekly podcast, Let’s Talk About Drugs in the Intermountain West. New episodes are released every Wednesday, featuring conversations that explore topics around addiction and spotlight the efforts being made to address substance use disorders across the Greater Intermountain West. This May marks the podcast’s one-year anniversary! You can catch up on all episodes via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or directly on the podcast’s website. The show is always looking for new voices. If you’re interested in being a guest, please reach out to us at PARCKA@hsc.utah.edu. SUPeRAD Expansion The University of Utah’s Substance Use & Pregnancy—Recovery, Addiction, and Dependence (SUPeRAD) Clinic has recently expanded to three locations, now including a new site in the Rose Park neighborhood in Salt Lake City, UT. In partnership with the Greater Intermountain Node, the SUPeRAD Clinic played a key role in participant recruitment for CTN-0080: Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Expectant Mothers (MOMs) Study. Thanks to SUPeRAD’s efforts, the Greater Intermountain Node was the top recruiting site for the study. Help us in congratulating the SUPeRAD team on this exciting expansion! You can hear highlights from the ribbon-cutting ceremony on the podcast Let’s Talk About Drugs in the Intermountain West. Posted on May 1, 2025.

The New York Node is proud to announce that Dr. John Rotrosen, MD, an esteemed and long-time member of the CTN, has been presented the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), in recognition of his unwavering commitment to the advancement of translational research in the area of substance use and other psychiatric disorders. This distinguished honor recognizes his outstanding contributions advancing science that improves lives. Dr. Rotrosen’s contributions to addiction, ADHD, schizophrenia, and movement disorders research have made a significant impact on public health, including the development of atypical antipsychotics, innovative drug delivery methods, and new treatments for SUDs. As a principal investigator for major NIDA and Veterans Administration initiatives, he has led seminal clinical trials and medication development projects using innovative and elegant approaches that leveraged clinical genetics, neuroimaging, and healthcare services research to help bridge the gap between scientific discovery and real-world medical practice, improving addiction treatment accessibility and outcomes. Dr. Rotrosen’s work has not only made a significant impact on the field of addiction but has also inspired and influenced countless individuals in the research community and society at large. Dr. Rotrosen retired in October 2023, after being with the CTN since its inception in 2000. Read more about his retirement here. Congratulations, Dr. Rotrosen!

Congratulations to Judith Tsui, MD, MPH, member of the CTN Pacific Northwest Node, who has just been named the President-Elect of CPDD (College on Problems of Drug Dependence)! Dr. Tsui is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington, based at Harborview Medical Center and Evergreen Treatment Services, Director of the UW GIM Substance Use Research and Education (SURE) Unit, Associate Director of the Addiction Medicine Fellowship at the UW, Director of the UW/Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research Substance Scientific Working Group, and PI/Director of the NIH/NIDA R25-funded UW Medical Student Addiction Research (“MedStAR”) Program. Each director on the CPDD board offers a unique perspective that works to strengthen the strategic direction of the organization and help it continue to grow, innovate, and serve its community with purpose. We know Dr. Tsui will be an invaluable asset to the board and are looking forward to how this new experience will inform the work of the Pacific Northwest Node as well! Read more about the incoming board members here!

The landscape of cannabis research has sharpened in recent years, with new understandings of what is therapeutically beneficial and what is not.  There is a great diversity in cannabis products and nearly as many ways to consume it, with more US states seeking legalization of both medicinal and recreational use. In this presentation, Dr. Alan Budney will review the state of the science related to the clinical efficacy of cannabis use and discuss alternative ways to consider and act on what is known. He will also review the potential consequences of cannabis use for patients with substance use disorders and how we need to consider situational and individual context when evaluating risk and impact of cannabis consumption. Register for the webinar here

Spotlight on Health System Node Investigator – Gwen Lapham, PhD, MPH, MSW CTN studies often have many important secondary findings and Dr. Lapham, a CTN investigator in the Health Systems Node, has been making sure these get published rapidly. In 2024, Dr. Lapham led a paper on Year 3 outcomes of the PROUD Trial (CTN-0074) in JAMA Network Open, showing that the benefit of the PROUD nurse care manager intervention more than doubled during year 3 (compared to years 1-2 in the main results paper) with significant benefit in 4 of 6 health systems (compared to 2 in main results) suggesting that main results were early in implementation. Dr. Lapham, who led the CTN-0077 study (Medical Cannabis in EHRs), also oversaw 2 secondary papers this year, including one in the Journal of General Internal Medicine that showed the prevalence of cannabis use disorder increased with greater frequency of cannabis use reported by patients in the clinical setting. She also led a paper for CTN-140 published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine that identified predictors of participation among pregnant individuals who use cannabis in Kaiser Permanente Northern California’s Early Start program – a prenatal substance use assessment, counseling, and treatment program. The study found most pregnant individuals with prenatal cannabis use engaged in the program, though opportunities to improve care gaps remain. CTN-0074: Nurse Care Management of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment After 3 Years: A Secondary Analysis of the PROUD Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial. Lapham GT, Hyun N, Bobb JF, Wartko PD, Matthews…

The Appalachian Node has received a notice of award for funding for the next seven years (FY25 – FY32).  We are excited to welcome to our newest partners, University of Maryland Baltimore and the PATH Network.