Call for Volunteers: CTN Publications Committee |
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 The Publications Committee (PC) is asking for volunteers to serve as protocol review team members to aid in reviewing papers, posters and abstracts from CTN studies.
These are reviewed by the PC before submission to journals or conferences. Reviewers prepare comments and suggestions about the material, usually in a short format. PC reviews are meant to clarify the material for the intended audience, indicate any possible errors or problems, and generally intended to improve or enhance the submission. In addition to assisting the PC, reviewers have early access to the results of CTN studies before presentation and publication.
Node leadership (PIs, LIs, node coordinators, etc.) should please provide the names of people in your nodes who you suggest and who are interested in volunteering to be PC reviewers on protocol teams. Also, some individuals, e.g. statisticians, may prefer to serve as ad hoc reviewers, not assigned to a specific protocol team but assigned as their expertise or experience is needed. Self-referrals are also welcome.
Remember, the PC needs reviewers from every node as well as with broad range of expertise and experience. Please email George Bigelow (bigelow@jhmi.edu) and Jack Blaine (jblaine@nida.nih.gov) with your protocol preferences or for further information.
Thank you for volunteering!
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New from NIDA: Investing in Prevention Makes Good Financial Sense
 NIDA Director Nora Volkow recently wrote a piece for her blog on the value of prevention when it comes to reducing substance use disorders.
It reports on a recent paper published in Prevention Science in which a group of NIDA-funded researchers performed an analysis of the costs to North Carolina healthcare payers for hospital charges potentially relating to higher-risk behaviors in patients aged 9-18 (i.e., pre-adolescents and adolescents) in 2012.
The researchers found that these charges totaled more than $327 million and that the higher-risk behaviors associated with these costs were preventable with established psychosocial interventions, including family-based prevention programs.
"While investment in prevention doesn’t show immediate returns, playing the long game and investing in prevention interventions can save lives and dollars," Dr. Volkow writes.
Read the complete blog post here. |
CTN Trial Progress
 Randomizations for Active Studies as of the May 15 Trial Progress Report.
CTN-0060-A-1 - Enrolled 811
CTN-0080 - Enrolled 76
CTN-0097 - Enrolled 371
CTN-0098 - Enrolled 43
CTN-0099 - Enrolled 925
CTN-0099-A-1 - Enrolled 85
CTN-0100
Discontinuation - Enrolled 46
Retention - Enrolled 327
CTN-0101 - Enrolled 149
CTN-0107 - Enrolled 34
CTN-0108 - Enrolled 21
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Update from the CTN Clinical Coordinating Center (CCC)
The Clinical Coordinating Center (CCC) at Emmes is sad to announce that Dee (Dikla) Blumberg is moving into a new and exciting position in the Emmes Corporate structure as Project Leader Director.
While we are very happy for her to take on this new role, we are very sad to see her leave the CCC as the Co-PI. She has worked with the CCC for 11 years in several roles including: Protocol Specialist, Project Manager, Project Director and Co-PI while supporting many CTN clinical trials.
She has led panels for the Steering Committee, developed posters and presentations for CPDD (The College on Problems of Drug Dependence) and SCT (Society of Clinical Trials) to name a few, as well as contributed to manuscripts and publications for several CTN studies.
In her own words: "My time on this project has been very meaningful to me, and I have felt proud being part of such significant work. I’m grateful to have had this opportunity and look forward to hearing about the next accomplishments as the CTN continues to move the science forward!"
We wish her the very best in this new role! If you would like to reach out to her, you can use her same email address: dblumberg@emmes.com, it hasn’t changed.
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News from the Nodes
New England Consortium Node
 Gail D’Onofrio, co-PI of the New England Consortium Node, has accepted an invitation to join the NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative Multi-Disciplinary Working Group (MDWG). The next meeting is scheduled to take place in late August 2022.
Gail D’Onofrio participated as a member of the Principal Investigator Planning Committee, planning the Third Annual NIH HEAL Initiative® Investigator Meeting in April 2022, where she was also a presenter.
Southern Consortium Node
 Project ECHO at the Medical University of South Carolina
MUSC’s Addiction Sciences Division in the Department of Psychiatry hosts two substance-related ECHOs, one focused on opioid use disorders and the other on peer recovery support services.
A case presentation by a member of the ECHO community followed by discussion and recommendations from the group and a relevant didactic occurs at the twice a month ECHO sessions, and a free hour of CME/CEUs is offered for every ECHO.
As of January 2022, approximately 3000 providers/interested parties have attended an OUD ECHO session since its 2018 inception. The peers ECHO had over 1130 participants and awarded over 630 CEUs during its 2021 inaugural year. Participants have joined from every county in SC but one and 13 additional states, primarily in the southeast.
Faculty members involved with the Southern Consortium Node serve on ECHO hubs. Dr. Karen Hartwell, an addiction psychiatrist, is the Director of the OUD ECHO and Co-Director of the Peers ECHO. Dr. Kelly Barth, our node Co-PI, is an invaluable member of the OUD hub bringing her rich background in pain management, addiction psychiatry and internal medicine to the ECHO community. CTN members both within MUSC and from other institutions have generously donated their time and shared their wisdom for the lecture series.
Recent review of our peers survey found an average rating of 4.5, with 5 the highest rating, for meeting expectations, providing new insights and practical information, and recommending ECHO to colleagues. The flexible and adaptable model permits rapid pivot as new information and updated treatment guidelines become available fulfilling the mandate to advance evidence-based care to rural and underserved areas.
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Health Systems Node
 The Health Systems Node is delighted to announce that Brian Ahmedani, PhD, core HSN faculty, has been chosen to receive the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Annual Research Award.
This award is given annually to a researcher or group of researchers who have completed significant research to advance a specific area of suicide prevention. The award is in recognition of a significant body of research over the past year.
Dr. Ahmedani leads health services and intervention research focused on improving outcomes for individuals with mental health and substance use conditions. Dr. Ahmedani is the Director of the Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research, Director of Research in Behavioral Health Services and a Senior Scientist at Henry Ford Health. Dr. Ahmedani received his PhD and MSW degrees from Michigan State University and is a licensed clinical social worker. He has served as PI for several large studies on suicide prevention, including NIH funded studies investigating healthcare use patterns before suicide and a large multi-site study evaluating implementation of the Zero Suicide Model across health systems. He is Co-PI for the Trans-America Consortium of the NIH All of Us Research Program, and serves as an investigator within the NIDA Clinical Trials Network and NIMH Mental Health Research Network. Dr. Ahmedani was appointed as chair of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Suicide Prevention Commission in Michigan and serves in several other leadership roles in suicide prevention.
Congratulations, Dr. Ahmedani!
Western States Node
 The CTN Western States Node and the Northwest and Pacific Southwest ATTCs are partnering again this June to bring you their next joint webinar:
Emergency Department-Initiated Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder
June 30, 2022 | 11am-12:30pm PT
This webinar, presented by Gail D'Onofrio, MD, will focus on the crucial role of the emergency department (ED) in recognizing and treating opioid use disorder (OUD) patients with evidence-based medications for addiction treatment. The opioid epidemic combined with the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly escalated the need to mitigate the morbidity and mortality associated with rising rates of fentanyl use. Dr. D'Onofrio will share data supporting the use of buprenorphine in the ED and discuss the consequences of not initiating treatment, barriers to implementation of ED buprenorphine, and components of successful integration of an ED program with community partnerships. She will also share current research by emergency physicians regarding innovative strategies like high-dose induction and use of an extended release 7-day formulation of buprenorphine.
1.5 CME or CE credits available.
Find out more and register here!
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New in the CTN Dissemination Library
Pain severity and interference and substance use among community pharmacy patients prescribed opioids: A secondary analysis of the PHARMSCREEN study. Charron E, et al. Journal of Pain (in press). (CTN-0093)
Associations between elevated depressive symptoms and substance use, prescription opioid misuse, overdose history, pain, and general health among community pharmacy patients prescribed opioids. Brown JL, et al. Substance Abuse 2022;43(1):1110-1115. (CTN-0093)
Methamphetamine/amphetamine use over time among persons with opioid use disorders treated with buprenorphine/naloxone versus extended-release naltrexone. Tsui JI, et al. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 2022 (in press). (CTN-0051)
Co-occurring depression and suicidal ideation in opioid use disorder: Prevalence and response during treatment with buprenorphine-naloxone and injection naltrexone. Na PJ, et al. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 2022;83(3):21m14140. (CTN-0051)
Safety and efficacy of a digital therapeutic for substance use disorder: Secondary analysis of data from a NIDA Clinical Trials Network study. Maricich YA, et al. Substance Abuse 2022;43(1):937-942.
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Upcoming Webinars
 CTN Youth SIG Webinar: Leveraging Technology to Advance Behavioral Health Equity in Juvenile Justice
May 20, 2022 (11am-12pm ET)
Join Zoom meeting here
The objectives of the presentation are to: 1) Understand the substance use and mental health intervention needs of justice-involved youth (JIY) 2) Identify barriers to JIY’s behavioral health care access and engagement; 3) Analyze ways that technology may hold promise for improving JIY’s behavioral health and legal outcomes.
Presenter: Marina Tolou-Shams, PhD, Professor, Dept of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Weill Institute for Neurosciences; Director, Division of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dept of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco
 CCTN Workshop: The Role of Community Pharmacies in Treating Opioid Use Disorder: Defining the NIDA CTN Research Roadmap
May 24, 2022 (10am-5pm ET)
Register here
Join the NIDA Center for the Clinical Trials Network (CCTN) on May 24, 2022 (10am-5pm ET) for a virtual workshop to discuss and identify research and other efforts needed to harness the power and reach of community pharmacies in treating opioid use disorder.
The workshop will highlight professional scopes of work, training needs, promising research and practices, and identify additional research, dissemination, and implementation efforts needed for large scale-up of evidence-based practices.
Register by May 19 to participate; you will be sent a complete agenda and Zoom link to connect after registering.
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Graduate Summer Institute of Epidemiology and Biostatistics: June 13-July 1, 2022
The 40th Graduate Summer Institute of Epidemiology and Biostatistics will be held (virtually) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, from June 13 - July 1, 2022. This institute offers intensive short courses on research methods and public health practices, highlighting epidemiologic and statistical concepts and methodology. Registration is open now!
Find out more here! |
Upcoming Meetings
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