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.

Gwen Lapham, PhD, MPH, MSW, recently published Prevalence of Cannabis Use Disorder and Reasons for Use Among Adults in a US State Where Recreational Cannabis Use Is Legal, in JAMA Network Open. Dr. Lapham led the CTN-0077 study and is a PROUD (CTN-0074) co-investigator and Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) assistant investigator and addictions health services researcher.  She is also an assistant affiliate professor in the Department of Health Systems and Population Health, University of Washington, and assistant professor in the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. Since joining KPWHRI, she has capitalized on her prior social work and health services training to do impactful research on evidence-based primary care for unhealthy substance use, including alcohol, cannabis, and opioids. She has recently begun making strides in understanding cannabis use among primary care patients, including medical use and use among prenatal women. Kelly Young-Wolff, PhD, MPH was recently selected to be a member of the NASEM Committee to Review the Public Health Consequences of Changes in the Cannabis Policy Landscape. Dr. Young-Wolff is leading CTN-0140 and is a licensed clinical psychologist and research scientist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco; Consulting Assistant Professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine; and Professor, Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. Dr. Young-Wolff’s research focuses on substance use, focusing specifically on cannabis use among pregnant persons and adolescents and on the impact of changes…

(pictured above: John Rotrosen, Ned Nunes, and Jennifer McNeely, leadership of the NY Node) The NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry had retirement party on October 4th celebrating John Rotrosen MD and his remarkable career! John joined NYU in 1968 as a medical student, stayed on through a research residency in psychiatry, and since, as faculty, most of that time overseeing clinical and research programs at Bellevue Hospital and the VA, with generous research funding mostly from the NIH and the VA.  A highlight of all of those years has been his team’s association with NIDA’s CTN since its inception in 2000, and especially since 2010 with the merger of two nodes, the first funded through NYU and the second, funded through RFMH/Columbia, into the current New York Node co-led by him and Ned Nunes as multiple-PIs.  As of July 1, Jennifer McNeely, MD, MS, Associate Professor in the departments of Population Health and Medicine at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine has assumed John’s role as contact PI at NYU. (pictured above: Dr. Rotrosen literally handing the baton to Dr. McNeely!) Posted October 13, 2023

The Learning for Early Careers in Addiction and Diversity (LEAD) program, a NIDA-funded science education program focused on addictions research training is recruiting a new cohort of scholars. The program trains early career substance use disorder researchers from racial/ethnic minoritized groups that are underrepresented as NIH funded investigators. The program announcement includes eligibility criteria and instructions about how to submit an application for consideration. Find the application here. The requirements are on the application, which include the following: Posted October 13, 2023

Andrew Saxon, MD (VA Puget Sound, UW Dept of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences), and Joseph Merrill, MD (UW Medicine), both long-time members of the CTN’s Pacific Northwest Node, were recently included in Seattle Met Magazine’s “Top Docs of 2023” feature (both in the category of Addiction Medicine). Congratulations, Drs. Saxon and Merrill, and thank you for your continued support of the CTN and the Pacific Northwest Node! Posted October 12, 2023