
Sean M. Murphy and Chelsea L. Shover Receive Inaugural NIH HEAL Director’s Award and Trailblazer Award
The 4th Annual NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-Term (HEAL) Initiative Investigator Meeting took place on February 22, 2023. HEAL-funded investigators and key stakeholders gathered in Bethesda, MD, to share research findings and identify new opportunities for pain and opioid use disorder research. HEAL Director Dr. Rebecca Baker also presented the inaugural NIH HEAL Initiative Director’s Awards for […]

Will States and Counties Spend Their National Opioid Settlements Effectively?
As $54 billion in National Opioid Settlement funds begin moving out toward states, counties, and municipalities, there is widespread concern among health authorities that the legal victory does not become a repeat of the 1998 mega-billion-dollar Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement fiasco in which most states used the money for just about everything except tobacco cessation […]

New Federal Rules That Lower Barriers to Opioid Care Could Save Thousands of Lives
The two main medications that treat opioid use in the United States reduce overdose deaths by 50%. Yet fewer than one in 10 people with opioid use disorder (OUD) can access this kind of medical protocol, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Fortunately, a new law and a new federal regulation […]

Budget Impact Tool for the Incorporation of Medications for Opioid Use Disorder into Jail/Prison Facilities
Despite evidence that medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), namely methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone, provided at the point of incarceration improve the well-being of the individual and the public, financial and administrative limitations in jail/prison healthcare often serve as barriers to this recommended first-line treatment for OUD. In fact, evidence indicates that more than 80% […]

Catching Up with Pilot Grant Recipient: Rachel Epstein
Rachel Epstein is a clinician-scientist with demonstrated experience in analyzing large datasets to inform hepatitis C (HCV), HIV, and substance use disorder interventions. A CHERISH pilot grantee in 2019, she worked closely with her co-investigators Benjamin Linas, CHERISH Population Data and Modeling Core director, and Shashi Kapadia, a CHERISH Research Affiliate and an infectious diseases physician at Weill […]

Addressing Statistical Issues Encountered in Conducting Prospective Economic Evaluations Alongside Clinical Trials
Conducting an economic evaluation alongside a randomized clinical trial provides valuable information for clinicians, insurers, and policy stakeholders. Integrating an economic evaluation within a trial provides researchers the opportunity to collect patient-level data at multiple time points on both cost and effectiveness outcomes, and to measure the comparative impact of treatments on these outcomes while […]

A Catch-Up on Promising Efforts to Mitigate the Opioid Crisis
For the last 20 years or so, the U.S. has seen a significant increase in opioid and drug overdoses overall. And while there was a slight leveling before the pandemic, “we’ve seen huge increases since COVID-19,” said Margaret Lowenstein, an LDI Senior Fellow, addiction medicine physician, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of […]

Engaging with People with Lived Experiences in OUD Modeling Research
Drug overdose deaths continue to rise in the United States and Canada, with the risks for greater opioid use sharply increasing in Mexico. As modelers, we know simulation modeling is a valuable tool that can inform policies and interventions to prevent overdose deaths and reduce related harms including drug overdose, HIV, and hepatitis C virus […]

Prevalence of HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis Prescribing Among Persons with Commercial Insurance and Likely Injection Drug Use
The United States has made important strides to reduce the incidence and negative outcomes of HIV, including increasing the availability of effective treatment and prevention in the form of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). While the incidence of new HIV infections fell significantly from 130,000 in 1985, progress has stalled at approximately 39,000 new infections per year […]

Paying Patients Can Improve Engagement in Mental Health Treatment
Financial incentives are known to increase patient engagement in a wide range of health programs, including programs for maintaining abstinence from substances, attending vaccination and screening appointments, and increasing physical activity. However, they have rarely been used for mental health care beyond treating substance use disorders. Showing up and being involved in mental health treatment […]

Cost-effectiveness of Extended-release Injectable Naltrexone among Incarcerated Persons with Opioid Use Disorder Before Release from Prison Versus After Release
Compared to the general population, individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) who are involved with the criminal-legal system have a much higher risk of a fatal overdose after release from incarceration. Yet, stigma, costs, and preferences for non-narcotic treatments in criminal-legal settings have stalled the implementation of life-saving treatment within the criminal-legal system. Extended-release naltrexone […]

Five Researchers Receive CHERISH Pilot Awards to Advance the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders, HCV, and HIV
The Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorder, HCV, and HIV (CHERISH) is proud to recognize five early-stage researchers who will receive up to $20,000 in pilot grant funding between 2022 and 2023. Through the CHERISH pilot grant, researchers can investigate innovative methodologies or applications, collect preliminary data to inform external […]
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