News

Over the last two decades, injection opioid use has increased among reproductive-aged women, with resultant increases in mother-to-child hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmissions in the U.S. Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment is highly effective at reducing and eliminating the risk of HCV transmissions. Yet, studies show lower odds of receiving DAA treatment for women compared to […]

CHERISH is excited to welcome a new pilot grant cohort for the 10th year. Spearheaded by CHERISH Pilot Grant Program Director Brandon Aden, the program is designed to help researchers gain familiarity with health economic evaluations, apply related methodologies to their pilot research, and build out the next stage of their careers. This year, CHERISH […]

One of the key questions researchers ask when conducting an economic evaluation is: How much does this intervention cost to an individual, organization, or society at large? The process requires researchers to identify the perspectives of affected stakeholders and analyze the costs related to the intervention. To better understand the burdens and economic impact of […]

Substance use disorders (SUD), and especially opioid use disorder (OUD), are prevalent within the criminal-legal system.  Recently, there has been increased alignment of OUD care across the criminal-legal system with the patient-centered American Society of Addiction Medicine guidelines. Whether by choice or through legislation, carceral facilities are increasingly offering FDA-approved medications for OUD (MOUD), which […]

CHERISH Research Affiliate Andria (Andi) Eisman first connected with the Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorder, HCV, and HIV (CHERISH) over a site visit to New York City. At the time, she was a 2021 Implementation Research Institute (IRI) Fellow at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University […]

Access to health insurance is crucial to gaining the necessary diagnostic and therapeutic services to achieve and maintain good health. Insurance is especially necessary to access medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) as the cost of MOUD can be a barrier to staying in treatment. If insurance coverage is disrupted, MOUD treatment may be more […]

At the start of summer, we welcomed undergraduate students Noah Jenkins and Simrun Rao. As rising seniors, Jenkins and Rao have been selected as part of the Summer Undergraduate Mentored Research (SUMR) Program at University of Pennsylvania and the NIDA Summer Research Internship Program. Working alongside CHERISH investigators Zachary Meisel at the Leonard Davis Institute […]

Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have been available since 2015 for hepatitis C (HCV). Nonetheless, very few patients with HCV initiate DAA treatment, ranging from 5% to 30%. The location where a patient is first diagnosed can also influence the care patients receive afterward, especially when a referral to a specialist or coordinated care is needed. In […]

Peer support services (PSS) play an increasingly important role in supporting recovery for people with substance use disorder (SUD). Through these services, peer support workers combine lived experience and professional training to provide health education, encouragement and empathy, recovery modeling, and concrete assistance in overcoming barriers to recovery. As of 2018, 37 Medicaid programs covered PSS for SUD. In a research letter in JAMA Network Open, Dr. Yuhua Bao, professor of population health sciences, and colleagues investigated multi-state utilization of Medicaid-covered PSS in 2019. Researchers found that overall use of Medicaid-covered […]

In recent years, CHERISH Research Affiliate Sabrina A. Assoumou has become a familiar face in Boston and a trusted voice in the scientific community. An infectious diseases physician and clinician-investigator at the Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine and the Center for Infectious Diseases at Boston Medical Center, Assoumou appeared in local and […]

Since 2021, over 100,000 individuals have died each year from a drug overdose, with approximately 76 percent of those deaths involving opioids.  As the US health care system contends with this growing health crisis, improved access to evidence-based medication treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) is imperative. Pharmacoeconomics, a branch of health economics used to evaluate comparative clinical, person-centered, and economic outcomes […]

Children with perinatally acquired hepatitis C virus (HCV) are now eligible to receive direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), a highly effective treatment for HCV, as early as the age of 3. Despite existing studies demonstrating DAA’s high efficacy and tolerance among adults and children between the 3 and 12 years old, there has been low uptake due […]