Benjamin Linas

“Medications for opioid use disorder saves lives.” That’s the title and conclusion of a recent report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, based on a review of the scientific evidence. In a new study in Drug and Alcohol Dependence, CHERISH investigators Jake Morgan, Bruce Schackman and Benjamin Linas add to this evidence base by […]

On April 18, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) together with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced research sites in four states will receive funding as part of the Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative HEALing Communities Study. Each state will engage stakeholders and researchers across 15 communities in their […]

On March 19, researchers from institutions across the country joined CHERISH leaders Bruce Schackman, Kathryn McCollister, Benjamin Linas and Sean Murphy for a daylong CHERISH introductory training to economic evaluations. Dr. Schackman began the day by introducing CHERISH to the attendees, who represented more than 25 institutions across New England, the Midwest, the Mid-Atlantic, the South […]

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is one of the leading causes of infectious disease deaths in the United States. Injection drug use is a common route of HCV transmission and the annual number of reported cases continues to rise due to the opioid epidemic. Previous HCV treatment regimens had severe side effects and limited efficacy, but […]

In response to the growing opioid epidemic in the United States, there is an increased focus on expanding evidence-based treatment using medications prescribed for substance use disorder, especially medications that can be prescribed in outpatient settings including buprenorphine and naltrexone. The Surgeon General’s report on facing addiction in America describes substance use disorders as chronic illnesses requiring […]

In the opening plenary panel of the CHERISH (Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorder, HCV and HIV) conference on evidence-based policy and practice are (l to r) Daniel Polsky, PhD, moderator and Executive Director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI); Tom McLellan, PhD, Chairman of the Board and […]

The Center for Health Economics of Treatment Interventions for Substance Use Disorders, HCV, and HIV (CHERISH) was profiled at the Liver Meeting® 2016 in Boston, MA. The Center’s mission is to develop and disseminate health economic research on healthcare utilization, health outcomes, and health-related behaviors that informs substance use disorder treatment policy and HCV and […]

Dr. Alysse Wurcel is an infectious disease specialist and faculty member at Tufts University School of Medicine with a focus in HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) infection whose research interests closely align with her clinical work. Dr. Wurcel’s research is focused on the treatment of HCV in people who inject drugs (PWID), people in the criminal […]

The high costs of treating the more than 7 million people with a substance use disorder may be daunting to public and private payers. The costs of not treating them may be even higher, especially if you consider the costs of failing to screen for and treat HIV and hepatitis C in this population. Sorting […]