A rural clinic in New Martinsville WV affiliated with the Appalachian Node and West Virginia University has been selected as a site in CTN-0102-XR study Rural Expansion of Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder. This is a Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial of Extended-release Buprenorphine (XR-BUP) vs. Sublingual Buprenorphine-naloxone (SL-BUP) in rural settings. The study is anticipated to get underway in the first quarter of 2024. Posted on 1/10/2024

Awards Congratulations to Dr. Lillian Gelberg, Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Health Policy and Management, UCLA, for receiving the 2023 Maurice Wood Award for Lifetime Contribution to Primary Care Research! The Wood Award is given annually to honor a researcher who has made outstanding contributions to primary care research. Among Gelberg’s achievements are her pioneering research on health disparities, including work that helps people who are experiencing homelessness, as well as her efforts to integrate behavioral health into primary care, such as patient-centered approaches to prevent substance use disorders in low-income patients of federally qualified health centers. Publications

E. Jennifer Edelman, MD, MHA, was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). The ASCI is a prestigious honor society for physician-scientists. Founded in 1908, the ASCI is one of the nation’s oldest medical honor societies and is among the few organizations focused on the special role of physician-scientists in research, clinical care, and medical education, as well as leadership positions in academic medicine and the life sciences industry. Roger Weiss, MD, delivered the Eric D. Hadar Distinguished Lecture in Psychiatry at Columbia University on 11/15/2023 on “Integrating Pharmacotherapy and Behavioral Therapy in Treating Patients with Substance Use Disorders.” Roger Weiss, MD, received the Founders Award from the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (AAAP) on 12/8/2023 https://www.aaap.org/about/awards/. The AAAP Founders’ Award is presented by the organization to an outstanding member of the community who works in the field of addiction and who has contributed significantly to the science, teaching, treatment or public policy in the addictions. Shelly Greenfield, MD, MPH, was the recipient in 2022, and she presented the award and interviewed Dr. Weiss in a “fireside chat.” Photo: Front and center are Dr. Greenfield and Dr. Weiss with current and former MGB addiction psychiatry fellows (and some former MGH/McLean residents) who trained with them. Posted 12/18/2023

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

Sarah Meyers-Ohki recently celebrated 10 years with the New York Node.  In November 2013, Sarah joined the department of psychiatry at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine as a Research Coordinator on the CTN-0051 team at Bellevue Hospital.  She is now a Senior Project Manager on CTN-0100 – as part of the lead team and managing the Bellevue site.   Happy 10th Anniversary, Sarah! Posted 11/7/2023

Sharon Levy, MD, MPH, Boston Children’s Hospitals, Chief, Division of Addiction Medicine, was promoted to Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. Roger Weiss, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and Chief of the Division of Alcohol, Drugs, and Addiction at McLean Hospital received the Founders Award from the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry. Gail D’Onofrio, MD, MS, Albert E. Kent Professor of Emergency Medicine, Professor of Medicine and Public Health, Yale University was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. CTN-0131 The NECN, the Lead Node of CTN-0131, hosted the Methadone Clinician Education and Support Training,held on 10/2, in Fitkin Auditorium on the campus of Yale School of Medicine. Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, Physician’s Assistants, and pharmacists represented all 6 participating sites. Presenters included: David Fiellin, MD, Study Lead Investigator; Zoe Weinstein, MD, MS, Study Co-Investigator; Jef Bratberg, PharmD; Ayana Jordan, MD, PhD, Study Co-Investigator; David Frank, PhD; Brandy Robinson; Jeanette Tetrault, MD, Study Co-Investigator; and Richard Schottenfeld, MD, Study Co-Investigator The CTN-0131 National Training took place via webinar 10/12-10/13. Publication Levy S, Minegishi M, Brogna M, Subramaniam G, McCormack J, Weiss R, Weitzman ER. Comparing the Performance of WMH-CIDI-SAM in Adolescents to Diagnoses Made by Pediatric Addiction Medicine Specialists. Journal of Addiction Medicine, in press. See also, our latest Node Newsletter.