Two new centers joined our department over the summer. The Center for Community-Engaged Drug Education, Epidemiology and Research (CEDEER) group at ADAI led by Caleb Banta-Green, PhD, joins research with the “real-world” to generate innovative, evidence-based, and person-centered responses to the use of opioids, stimulants and other illicit substances. The Center’s goal is to collect and share knowledge gained from research, local data, clinical expertise, and personal lived experiences of people who use drugs. This knowledge is used to improve policies and services to reduce substance-related harms and improve the lives of people impacted by substance use. Equitable access to relevant and effective care is necessary to address current and historical policies that create inequitable harm to people who use opioids and stimulants.

The Perinatal Mental Health and Substance Use Education, Research, and Clinical Consultation (PERC) Center led by Amritha Bhat, MBBS, MD, MPH, and Deb Cowley, MD, and administered by Jamie Adachi, MPH, aims to transform perinatal mental health and substance use disorder delivery systems through excellence in clinical consultation, education, and health services research. The team provides direct specialty psychiatric care, psychiatric telephone consultation (Perinatal Psychiatry Consultation Line), integrated mental health treatments, workforce development initiatives, and conducts innovative health services research. The creation of this new Center recognizes the continued growth and expansion of our Maternal-Child Mental Health Program, and a naming transition will happen over the next few months.