Category: From Newswise – Substance Abuse

BYLINE: Government of Canada invests in national coordination and Indigenous-led research on effective substance use interventions

Newswise — Research plays a crucial role in understanding the complexities of substance use, guiding effective interventions, and ultimately saving lives. That’s why we must leverage Canada’s exceptional research talent and expertise to ensure our substance use health interventions, services, and policies are effective, equitable, and evidence-informed.

Today, the Honourable Ya’ara Saks, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, announced an investment of $6 million through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy (CDSS) to expand and increase the impact of the Canadian Research Initiative on Substance Matters (CRISM). This new funding includes $4 million to create a Network Coordinating Centre and $2 million to develop an Indigenous Engagement Platform that will work collaboratively across the research network.

Dr. David Hodgins at the University of Calgary will lead the CRISM Network Coordinating Centre. Dr. Hodgins and his team will establish four core platforms, including one to co-create knowledge mobilization products and activities with stakeholders and partners, and a training and capacity building platform that includes research placements and scholarships as well as mentorship opportunities for early career researchers and Indigenous scholars across all network nodes. The Network Coordinating Centre will also facilitate a trials and project support platform to facilitate clinical trials, research studies and data sharing, and a platform to create processes and tools for the production of guidelines and best practice documents.

Dr. Robert Henry at the University of Saskatchewan will lead the development of the CRISM Indigenous Engagement Platform. Using distinctions-based and community-led approaches, Dr. Henry and his team will strengthen and increase Indigenous involvement across CRISM’s regional nodes by advising the Network Coordinating Centre on Indigenous research priorities, improving Indigenous engagement at all levels, and supporting CRISM to improve Indigenous health and well-being through Indigenous-driven efforts. The platform will include five core pillars: knowledge translation and mobilization, training of Indigenous students, Indigenous research priorities designed with Indigenous community partners, improving Indigenous methodologies for CRISM, and development of an Indigenous evaluation framework.

Supported by the Network Coordinating Centre and Indigenous Engagement Platform, CRISM’s network of over a thousand service providers, researchers, policy makers, patients, and people who use substances will work together to develop impactful, evidence-informed approaches to prevent and treat substance-related harms.

Quotes

“Substance use is complex and there is no one-size-fits-all solution to preventing or reducing harms. We need to leverage research and data across the country to improve our understanding of substance use issues and shape evidence-based policies that offer real solutions and support those in need.”

The Honourable Ya’ara Saks
Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health

“CRISM is a prime example of what’s possible when researchers are empowered to self-organize and improve policy and practice from the bottom up. These platforms will amplify the already impactful work of CRISM, ensuring the network’s continued success addressing critical substance use issues impacting individuals, families and communities across Canada.”

Dr. Samuel Weiss
Scientific Director, CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction

“The sum is greater than the whole of its parts! The unique strength of CRISM is that the perspectives of researchers, policy makers, frontline service providers, our Indigenous partners, and people with lived and living experience come together to help develop solid evidence-based solutions to the challenges of addiction. This additional funding will support our five geographic nodes in working together in generating and sharing new information.”

Dr. David Hodgins
Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Calgary

“Addressing the disproportionate experiences to substance use of Indigenous Peoples requires a concerted effort that provides opportunities for Indigenous Peoples, communities, researchers, knowledge keepers, youth, and those with living/lived experience to come together to inform broader research initiatives, programs, and knowledge mobilization outcomes. The CRISM Indigenous Engagement Platform (IEP) will provide opportunities for continued efforts to address the past, while looking to the future, while respecting Indigenous ways of knowing.”

Dr. Robert Henry
Assistant Professor, Department of Indigenous Studies, University of Saskatchewan and Nominated Principal Investigator, Saskatchewan Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research

Quick facts

• The Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Matters (CRISM) – formerly the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse – was established in 2015 by CIHR to build a national network in substance use research consisting of researchers, service providers, policy makers, and people with lived experience of substance use.

• This cross-Canada research network is composed of five regional nodes located in British Columbia, Prairies, Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic region.

• CRISM provides a flexible and expandable platform for accelerating the development of local and pan-Canadian research and knowledge mobilization on substance use, including on prevention, harm reduction, and treatment.

• CIHR is providing $6 million in new funding to strengthen and expand CRISM’s activities across Canada with a new Network Coordinating Centre and Indigenous Engagement Platform.

Newswise — A recent study reveals a dramatic 38% drop in opioid prescriptions in Pennsylvania since the implementation of “Prescription Drug Monitoring Program” (PDMP). As the opioid crisis continues to grip the nation, Pennsylvania’s data highlights the significant impact of regulatory measures on curbing opioid abuse, offering a potential model for other states battling similar epidemics.

The study titled “Opioid Prescribing Patterns by Drug Type: The Pennsylvania Experience” examines the changes in opioid prescribing patterns in Pennsylvania from 2016 to 2020 following the implementation of the PDMP. The study was organized by the Rothman Opioid Foundation.

“In 2016, nearly 2 million opioid prescriptions were given to patients across the state. However, by the end of the study period in 2020, there was a 38 percent decrease in opioid prescriptions written,” says Dr. Asif Ilyas, senior author of the study.  He is President of the Rothman Opioid Foundation in Philadelphia, a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University, and an Associate Dean of Clinical Research at the Drexel University College of Medicine in Pennsylvania. Ilyas states that at last during its initial roll out, the PDMP has had an effect in the absolute number of opioids prescribed by Pennsylvania’s prescribers.

This reduction was observed across various types of opioids, with the largest decreases in the prescriptions of hydrocodone and oxycodone in absolute numbers. Despite the overall reduction in prescriptions, the composition of the types of opioids prescribed remained relatively consistent over the study period. Ilyas notes that continued analysis of opioid prescribing across the state as well as improvements to the PDMP is needed to order to maximize the PDMP’s effect to curb prescribing utilization in Pennsylvania.

Co-authors of the study include Brock Bakewell, Chaim Miller, and Matthew Sherman.  The study appears in The Journal of Opioid Management, March-April 2023.  A copy of the study can be found at : https://wmpllc.org/ojs/index.php/jom/article/view/3365

About the Rothman Institute Foundation for Opioid Research and Education.

The Rothman Orthopaedic Foundation, for short, is a non-profit 501c3 organization dedicated to raising awareness of the ongoing opioid crisis, educating physicians and patients on safe opioid prescribing and use – respectively, and advising policymakers on sound opioid and pain management policy. Most importantly, the Rothman Opioid Foundation performs and supports the highest quality research on opioids and alternative pain modalities to yield findings that can better inform patients, physicians, and the greater healthcare community in the most evidenced-based pain management strategies while working to mitigate opioid abuse and addiction.

Newswise — Multiracial or mixed-race individuals – having parents or ancestors of different races – currently comprise more than 10 percent of the U.S. population. There is very little research on Multiracial individuals even though young adults in this group report high rates of alcohol and other drug (AOD) use: binge drinking, illicit drug use other than cannabis, and drug use disorders. New research explores what factors may contribute to high rates of substance use among this population. Results will be shared at the 47^th annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcohol (RSA) in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“Multiracial people are a fast-growing racial demographic group in the U.S.,” said Tessa Nalven, a graduate student at the University of Rhode Island, “but are often rendered nearly invisible as a race. Yet Multiracial young adults often report their race as being among their most salient identities. Within the context of their high rates of AOD use, I hope to draw attention to their voices to help advocate for findings solutions to their unique concerns and challenges.”

Nalven will discuss her study’s findings at the RSA meeting on Sunday, 23 June 2024.

In the fall of 2021, she conducted four semi-structured, online focus groups with 22 (17 females, 5 males) Multiracial young adults 18 to 25 years of age with the objective of uncovering factors related to their AOD use. All study participants had self-reported previous six-month AOD use, and were recruited with the intention of collecting a diverse and heterogeneous sample.

“Multiracial young adults often report their race feels impactful across all aspects of their lives,” said Nalven, “resulting in feeling excluded and misunderstood in many contexts, which they also believe relates to high rates of AOD use. My study found that Multiracial young adults ascribe their high rates of substance use to: one, racial discrimination; two, environmental influences; three, identity development difficulties; four, struggles with fitting in; and five, mental health challenges.”

Nalven added that these unique social and environmental factors associated with AOD use in Multiracial young adults require unique interventions. “Interventions to ameliorate the disproportionate rates of AOD use among Multiracial young adults should address ways to respond to discrimination and mental health or racial identity concerns,” she said. “Moreover, systemic interventions are needed to educate communities to foster inclusive environments and reduce discrimination and inequitable treatment of Multiracial people.”

Nalven observed that the field of addiction research, and the science around mental-health concerns as a whole, have been too focused on single-racial – and primarily White – groups. “I believe there is important utility in studying Multiracial people as a cohesive group, without parsing out their separate identities; to examine the similarities – both strengths and struggles – that Multiracial young adults experience as a result of their similar lived experiences in the context of a monoracial and White-centric society.”

Newswise — Compared to their cisgender/heterosexual peers, LGBTQ+ college students are at an elevated risk of substance use and mental health challenges. While collegiate recovery programs provide an array of support to students in recovery from substance use disorders, scarce research has examined the unique needs of LGBTQ+ students within this population. New findings regarding the psychosocial and recovery functioning of LGBTQ+ and cisgender/heterosexual students receiving support will be shared on Sunday, 23 June 2024 at the 47^th annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcohol (RSA) in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

“LGBTQ+ college students in general experience higher levels of discrimination based on their gender identity or sexual orientation,” explained Mer Francis, assistant professor of social work at Virginia Commonwealth University, “and are more likely to have experienced various forms of trauma such as bullying, rejection from family members and peers, and unstable housing prior to entering college than average college students. These compounded experiences of trauma and discrimination are related to [having] nearly 2.5 times the risk of developing a substance use disorder, and about 2.3 times the risk of developing a mood disorder during their lifetime. 

Francis noted that a large percentage of participants in his study identified as LGBTQ+: 40.6% overall; 38.9% lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer; and 16.8% transgender or gender-expansive. “This is comparable to what we are seeing in the general college population these days,” he said. “This is a large portion of the collegiate recovery population that we don’t know all that much about, and it is important for recovery directors to know what their specific needs are so they can tailor programming to meet those needs.”

Francis and his colleagues examined participant data for 529 students from the National Longitudinal Collegiate Recovery Study that was drawn from 58 collegiate recovery programs across the US, Canada, and the UK. Participants shared their life experiences, including time abstinent, mental health history, grade point average, access to support, stability and resources, as well as the extent to which they felt their identity was supported during recovery.

Francis said there were three key findings. “One, while LGBTQ+ college students in recovery tend to have less severe substance use disorders than their non-LGBTQ+ peers, they may need additional support for mental health disorders. Two, more LGBTQ+ students were in early recovery compared to cisgender/heterosexual students, while more cisgender/heterosexual students were in stable recovery after five years than LGBTQ+ students. Three, collegiate recovery programs are doing a good job of supporting their LGBTQ+ students and their identities.”

Francis expects these findings will help directors of collegiate recovery programs and other service providers who support students in recovery. “These providers can use this information to tailor programming to meet the specific needs of LGBTQ+ students by creating identity-specific recovery groups where students can share common experiences, increasing linkages to services for mental health and trauma experiences, and examining staffing, policies, and practices that may help LGBTQ+ students feel more welcomed and supported.”

BYLINE: Kate Barnes

Newswise — Patients are less likely to fill prescriptions for naloxone when they face increases in out-of-pocket costs, according to research by the University of Michigan.

Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study utilized data from a national pharmacy transactions database from November 2020 to March 2021. Researchers found that about 1 in 3 naloxone prescriptions for privately insured and Medicare patients were not filled.

Naloxone, an opioid antagonist that can reverse overdose, is a critical tool in preventing overdose deaths. Nationally, opioid overdoses account for more than 78,000 deaths annually, according to provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Michigan, that number totaled more than 2,200 in 2023.

The rate of nonfilled prescriptions across the country jumped abruptly on Jan. 1, 2021—the date on which deductibles reset in many private and Medicare plans—as did the amount patients had to pay to fill prescriptions. The researchers estimate that a $10 increase in out-of-pocket cost would decrease the rate of filling prescriptions by about 2-3 percentage points.

“Minimizing barriers to accessing naloxone is a crucial step toward slowing the U.S. opioid epidemic. Our study suggests that minimizing the out-of-pocket cost of naloxone prescriptions could help achieve this goal,” said study lead author Kao-Ping Chua, Ph.D., M.D., assistant professor at the U-M Medical School and School of Public Health.

Chua and colleagues note that barriers to naloxone dispensing other than cost also play a key role in addressing this issue, such as stigma about the medication. For example, the study also found that 7%-8.5% of naloxone prescriptions were not filled even when they were free to patients.

A Michigan-specific strategy seeking to mitigate barriers to naloxone access and use was announced late last year, when the state issued an updated statewide standing order. As written in the order, community-based organizations are now able to host or provide naloxone distribution sites without the previously required oversight of a pharmacy. These “naloxone vending machines” provide the lifesaving medication for free and increase access for those in need without a prescription.

Chua is co-director of Research and Data Domain at the U-M Opioid Research Institute (ORI) and faculty member at the Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research Center (CHEAR) and Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation (IHPI).

Co-authors include: Thuy Nguyen of ORI, IHPI and U-M School of Public Health; Amy Bohnert of ORI, IHPI and U-M Medical School; Pooja Lagisetty of ORI, IHPI and U-M Medical School; Sijia He of CHEAR; and Rena Conti of Boston University.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R01DA056438-02) and the Gorman Scholar Award from the U-M Medical School. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Study: Association Between Cost Sharing and Naloxone Prescription Dispensing (DOI: 10.1001/jama.2024.8378)

Newswise — Physical and sexual abuse, having parents who misuse substances, and witnessing violent crime are tragic events that don’t remain locked in a single point in time. Rather, they are termed adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and 64 percent of American adults who participated in a recent survey reported experiencing at least one ACE prior to turning 18 years old. 

The wake of these events can extend into adulthood and include harmful behaviors such as self-medicating—which one new study found is akin to adding fuel to an already burning fire.  

This new research, published in Nature Human Behavior, showed that individuals exposed to ACEs are at increased risk of developing mood, anxiety, and substance use disorders. In part, the substance use disorder risk is related to the use of alcohol or drugs to self-medicate mood and anxiety disorders. 

Henry Kranzler, MD, a professor of Psychiatry and the director of the Center for Studies of Addiction in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, co-authored the work. He and his colleagues found that people with these mental health conditions reported experiencing more ACEs and lacking protective factors, such as close family connections, that can mitigate their harms. 

However, according to Kranzler, there are multiple entry points. “These findings suggest that multiple pathways lead to mental health conditions after exposure to childhood adversity,” Kranzler said.  

Prevalence of adverse childhood events   

The axiom “kids are resilient” continues to be tested, and sometimes broken, as the world continues to adapt to the impact of remote learning, stunted social-emotional development, and a spectrum of issues weighing on children during the past few years.   

That spectrum includes the impact of ACEs on children across the country. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, three in four high school students reported experiencing at least one ACE during the pandemic and were more likely to report poor mental health or suicidal behavior.  

Other research has shown that adverse childhood experiences can influence negative behavior into adulthood, as well as detailed the significant economic impact of ACEs. One recent study put the national economic burden of ACEs-related adult health conditions at $14.1 trillion annually ($183 billion in direct medical spending and $13.9 trillion in lost healthy life-years), or $88,000 per affected adult annually and $2.4 million over their lifetime. 

Finding the fire before it spreads 

The group led by Kranzler examined associations among ACEs, mood or anxiety disorders, and substance dependence in 12,668 individuals—42.5 percent Black and 42.1 percent white) and compared two primary hypotheses: self-medication (using substances to cope with trauma) and substance-induced psychiatric disorders (mental health issues caused by substance use). Stronger support was found for the self-medication hypothesis, suggesting that interventions focusing on coping skills and emotional resilience may help reduce the risk of future mental health issues in children exposed to ACEs. 

“Earlier intervention is key,” added Rachel Kember, MSc, PhD, an assistant professor of Psychiatry and study co-author. “The findings provide a better understanding of how it may be best to intervene based on an individual’s specific needs.” 

Genetic factors also play a role, with some individuals having a higher genetic predisposition for developing substance use, mood, or anxiety disorders. The interaction between genetic risk and childhood adversity influences the development of mental health disorders, highlighting the importance of understanding different pathways and designing early interventions to promote emotional regulation and coping skills. 

“Given these results, it’s crucial to prioritize efforts to reduce children’s exposure to early traumatic experiences,” said study co-author Christal Davis, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center (VAMC). “This would enhance access to protective factors, which could prevent the need for future mental health interventions.” 

Because there are multiple pathways to the development of mental health conditions following exposure to childhood adversity, regular screening for ACEs and targeted interventions to improve emotional regulation and other coping skills, may help to reduce the harmful impacts of childhood adversity. 

According to Kranzler, greater priority should be placed on both reducing children’s exposure to early traumatic experiences and increasing their access to protective factors. For example, safe, stable, and nurturing relationships, positive friendships and peer networks, and supportive school environments that promote learning and socialization, may help prevent the need for future mental health interventions.  

Though the team expressed caution—more data are necessary to chart firmer next steps due to the novelty of the dataset the team analyzed—it does represent a first step. 

“The findings underscore the need for efforts to prevent or intervene early with individuals who experience adverse childhood events, as they have the potential to prevent or limit the development of a variety of psychiatric disorders, including substance dependence,” Kranzler said.  

“Gene x Environment and Mediation Effects among Adverse Childhood Events, Mood and Anxiety Disorders, and Substance Dependence” was published with colleagues from the Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Crescenz VAMC, Quinnipiac University, and Yale University School of Medicine. 

Newswise — BOSTON—Stress during childhood is associated with earlier substance use in male and female adolescents, according to a study presented Saturday at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Boston, Mass. Traumatic events may increase substance use risk for males, while environmental stress and early puberty may increase the risk for females, the researchers found.

Early life stress is children’s experiences of abuse, neglect and conflict. Approximately 20% of adolescents in the United States have experienced early life stress at some point, and these experiences influence adolescent and adult health behavior outcomes.

“Starting substance use at an earlier age is associated with more severe substance use disorder in adulthood,” said lead researcher Alexandra Donovan, Ph.D., of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, Calif.  “Early life stress and early puberty have both been associated with early substance use, but it wasn’t clear whether these connections are the same across boys and girls.”

Donovan and colleagues evaluated sex differences in the impact of puberty and stress on alcohol, nicotine and cannabis use by the age of 13. They analyzed data from 8,608 male and female participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, who were 9 or 10 years old when the study began. The study included data from the first three years of the ABCD study.

The researchers looked at the effects of early life stress and found it increased the likelihood of earlier use of alcohol, nicotine or cannabis use across both males and females.

Early life stress increased the likelihood of earlier substance use for males by 9-18% and for females by 13-20%.  Environmental stress increased the likelihood of early use of nicotine and cannabis in females by 15-24%. Traumatic event stress increased the likelihood in males by 15-16%. Higher pubertal development scores increased the likelihood of earlier nicotine use for females while decreasing the likelihood for males.

“Our study supports the link between early life stress and teen substance use, extending our understanding of how this connection can differ across sex,” Donovan said. “These findings may be used to refine prevention programs in schools, encouraging a more individualized approach.”

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The Society has more than 18,000 members, including scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in 122 countries. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at www.endocrine.org. Follow us on Twitter at @TheEndoSociety and @EndoMedia.

BYLINE: Misti Crane

Newswise — COLUMBUS, Ohio – Rural Americans are less likely to initiate care for substance use disorders and to receive ongoing care compared with those who live in urban areas, according to a new study. 

When they do access care, people who live in less populated areas are more likely to have to go outside their provider network to receive treatment, which comes with higher out-of-pocket costs, found a team of researchers at The Ohio State University College of Public Health. Their study appears in the journal Health Services Research. 

“One thing that’s really striking is that we looked at sort of a best-case scenario for people with substance use disorders – care for people with private insurance tends to include high reimbursement rates and specialists are more likely to contract with those plans, meaning they have more robust provider networks,” said study lead author Eli Raver, an Ohio State doctoral student. 

“If we find problems among this group, you know it’s going to be worse for everybody else.” 

Looking at an employer-sponsored health care database, the research team examined data collected from 2016 through 2018 that included about 40 million adult patients each year. 

Treatment rates for substance use disorders were low across the board – less than half of people received care. But the picture was worse for rural Americans. 

Among the disparities found in the study: 

• Rural patients experienced lower treatment initiation rates for disorders involving alcohol (37% vs. 38%), opioids (41% vs. 44%) and other drugs (38% vs. 40%) compared to those in urban areas.
• Rural patients were also less likely than urban patients to engage in ongoing treatment for alcohol (15% vs. 17%), opioids (21% vs. 23%) and other drugs (16% vs. 18%).
• More rural patients than urban patients received out-of-network initial treatment and continued treatment for drug use disorders other than alcohol and opioids. Rural patients were also more likely to pay higher rates for ongoing treatment for alcohol use disorders. 

While substance use disorders and struggles finding and completing successful treatment are widespread concerns, matters are worse for those who live in rural areas, and this new research contributes more understanding about the obstacles people face, said Wendy Xu, the study’s senior author and an associate professor of health services management and policy at Ohio State. 

“Rural areas are continuously plagued with a shortage of behavioral health providers and more limited health resources overall. These challenges are compounded by the fact that most insurance plans use managed care arrangements, some of which use highly limited provider networks,” Xu said. 

One potential approach to tackling these problems could be the Collaborative Care Model, which has grown in popularity in recent years, she said: “This model allows primary care clinicians working with a behavioral health care manager, who often is not an advanced clinician, to treat substance use disorders in collaboration with a psychiatric consultant who doesn’t have to live and work in the area.” 

In fact, the entire collaborative process of treatments, prescribing and ongoing care are typically delivered through virtual health appointments and billed through the patient’s primary care practice. 

Raver said it’s important to note that while much of policymakers’ attention is focused on opioid use disorders, the disparities identified in this study exist across the spectrum of substance use disorders. 

“A lot of policy focus has been on the opioid crisis, as it should be, but I think it’s interesting and troubling to see that, regardless of which substance we’re talking about, there is high out-of-network usage and low overall participation in care,” he said.

Study co-authors include Sheldon Retchin of Ohio State, Yiting Li of Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Andrew Carlo of Northwestern University.

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Newswise — Bethesda, Md. – The Uniformed Services University’s (USU) Consortium for Health and Military Performance and its Operation Supplement Safety (OPSS) program is teaming up with Major League Baseball (MLB) to host the inaugural Performance Enhancing Substances (PES) Summit on May 1 at MLB headquarters in New York City.  

This meeting brings together representatives from professional and collegiate athletic organizations, Service Members, athlete representatives, healthcare providers, and allied health professionals alongside those representing USU, the Department of Defense (DoD), the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), Department of Justice (DOJ), and Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The PES Summit aims to raise awareness of issues surrounding prohibited substance use, identify and discuss emerging substances that pose health and safety risks, and propose potential solutions to maintain the safety, well-being and performance of athletes and Service Members.  

“The DoD has a zero-tolerance policy for all abuse or misuse of drugs, and that includes PES. These drugs compromise our military’s readiness, as well as the safety and health of our service members,” said Navy Capt. Erin Wilfong, director of the Office of Drug Demand Reduction. “DDRP is increasing efforts to educate and warn our Service Members on the harms and risks of PES.”

At this one-day meeting, attendees will receive an overview on substance use/misuse in the military, hear from subject matter experts on the current state of PES, and learn about challenges faced by major sporting leagues and the DoD. Additionally, there will be discussions on emerging and new substances that pose risks to all consumers.

“We are incredibly honored to co-host this event, which will be the first time that sport and military are coming together on this scale to collaborate on these important topics.  Professional sports leagues and DoD face similar issues on prohibited substance use, and it will be a worthwhile exercise to bring these different perspectives together to share experiences and discuss potential solutions to these shared challenges,” said Jon Coyles, vice president for Drug, Health & Safety Programs, MLB.

The PES Summit will promote collaborations and campaigns; education approaches; and the identification of knowledge and research gaps. The end result will include a peer-reviewed publication with proposed educational and policy solutions along with a joint research agenda for execution.

 “Through our work on the OPSS program, our collaborations allow us to draw attention to areas that need it- and our concentrated efforts on prevention, education and outreach on PES with our Service Members is paramount,” said Andrea Lindsey, director of the USU/CHAMP OPSS program and senior nutrition scientist for the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine. “We thank MLB for co-hosting this important landmark event to address this public health issue.”

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About the Uniformed Services University: The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, founded by an act of Congress in 1972, is the nation’s federal health sciences university and the academic heart of the Military Health System. USU students are primarily active-duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service who receive specialized education in tropical and infectious diseases, TBI and PTSD, disaster response and humanitarian assistance, global health, and acute trauma care. USU also has graduate programs in oral biology, biomedical sciences and public health committed to excellence in research. The University’s research program covers a wide range of areas important to both the military and public health. For more information about USU and its programs, visit www.usuhs.edu.