| This collaborative study with Cornell Medical College and the University of Florida tests the effectiveness of “Do More, Feel Better” (DMFB), a lay health delivered behavioral intervention, in comparison to professionally-delivered Behavioral Activation. The specific aims are to test the effectiveness of “Do More, Feel Better” for depressed older adults on increasing overall activity level and reducing depression symptoms. |
Funding Type: Federal
Changing our paths: well-being and recovery among Native Americans with opioid use disorder
This project will characterize an indigenized opioid use disorder “cascade of care” and identify corresponding measures to quantify services and outcomes defined by it.
Alcohol and addiction Research Domain Criteria (AARDoC) and alcohol use disorder recovery
This project will integrate and analyze datasets from multisite clinical trials of alcohol use disorder treatments to understand alcohol addiction research domain criteria (AARDoC) phenotypes and biopsychosocial predictors of alcohol use disorder recovery up to three and ten years following treatment.
Young Adult Education on Alcohol & Health (YEAH Study)
This study aims to develop and test a web-based intervention to reduce alcohol and sexual risk behaviors among young women.
Communication and Recovery Enhancement (CARE) clinical trial
This study aims to refine and test a brief intervention (CARE) that aims to promote recovery in recent sexual assault survivors. CARE is delivered to supporters of sexual assault survivors (e.g., friends, family members, romantic partners), with or without the survivor present. It aims to encourage conversations about the assault and decrease negative reactions by the supporter. In stage 1 of this study, we will conduct feedback sessions with 8-10 dyads of survivors and their supporters to finalize the intervention materials. In stage 2, we will conduct a pilot clinical trial of CARE with 60 dyads, who will be randomized to dyadic intervention, supporter-only intervention, or waitlist control.
Initial efficacy trial of a group-based implementation strategy designed to increase teacher delivery of evidence-based prevention programs
The purpose of this project is to test the effects of BASIS-T (Beliefs and Attitudes to Support Implementation in Schools – Teachers) on the implementation and student outcomes of evidence-based prevention programs (EBPP) via a hybrid type 3 implementation-effectiveness trial. Failing to address individual-level motivational factors of implementers is especially costly, as individual behavior change is ultimately required for successful EBPP implementation, even when organizational factors such as evidence-informed policy, supportive leadership, and effective training are in place. Hybrid type 3 trials allow for testing the effects of implementation strategies, as well as observing the reproducibility of particular EBPPs — in this case, CHAMPS, a universal classroom management program for improving student social, behavioral, and academic outcomes.
Beliefs and Attitudes for Successful Implementation in Schools (BASIS)
The goal of this study is to adapt and test the feasibility and potential efficacy of a theory-driven pre-implementation intervention to address individual-level barriers to evidence-based practice (EBP) implementation – Beliefs and Attitudes for Successful Implementation in Schools (BASIS) – designed to improve school-based mental health providers’ implementation of EBP. The BASIS-T project will develop a teacher-focused pre-implementation motivation enhancement intervention that will be tested in the context of universal social, emotional, and behavioral program implementation.
Intervention to increase naloxone engagement and distribution in community pharmacies
This multi-site study will test the efficacy of an intervention to train and equip pharmacists to provide naloxone, an overdose antidote, to patients using prescribed and illicit opioids, to improve opioid safety and prevent opioid-involved adverse events. The study will carry out a stepped-wedge, cluster randomized trial implemented over five waves, within two chain community pharmacies across four states with varying pharmacy-based naloxone distribution laws: Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Our specific study aims are to: 1) integrate two successful demonstration research projects into one cohesive educational program (MOON+), 2) evaluate the effectiveness of MOON + on naloxone-related outcomes, and 3) use mixed methods to further explore the impact and implementation of MOON+ and associated factors (e.g., state policy, store policy, region).
Determining if activity in LHb projections to the RMTg promotes cued reinstatement to fentanyl seeking through indirect inhibition of VTA dopamine neurons
The main goals of this proposal are twofold: 1) to develop and optimize a general behavioral and technical platform for studying the functional neurocircuitry underlying opioid use disorder, and 2) to determine if activity in LHb projections to the RMTg promotes cued reinstatement to fentanyl seeking through indirect inhibition of VTA dopamine neurons.
Determining if activity in specific lateral habenula output pathways motivates avoidance of synthetic opioid withdrawal or cue induced reinstatement
Opioid abuse has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and is responsible for more than 40,000 overdose deaths each year. Avoidance of withdrawal and drug-associated cues are key deterrents to voluntary abstinence in humans. By studying the neural circuits responsible for motivating avoidance of physical and emotional pain, as well as those that process drug-cues, we may be able to produce targeted pharmacotherapies or genetic therapies that reduce the likelihood of opioid relapse in humans. A reduction withdrawal avoidance or cue sensitivity will make it easier for those suffering from opioid use disorder to remain abstinent.
