HEAL Headliners: More Than a Number: Data-Driven Solutions for Pain and Addiction

Fri, 9/8/2023 - 2:00pm - 3:00pm

Overview

Data is the currency of scientific progress. Widespread sharing of research data allows researchers to ask and answer new scientific questions as well as evaluate novel lifesaving and evidence-based practices. This webinar explored how two large HEAL-funded research studies are leveraging the power of data to develop effective interventions for pain, addiction, and opioid overdose.

Topics Covered

HEALing Communities Study—Massachusetts (Presenter: Marc LaRochelle, M.D., M.P.H., Boston Medical Center)

Effective prevention and treatment programs and services to address opioid misuse, opioid use disorder, and overdose are underused by the people who need them. The HEALing Communities Study tests the implementation and impact of a wide range of evidence-based practices to enhance treatment and prevention across healthcare, behavioral health, justice, and other community-based settings. Dr. Marc LaRochelle will share insights from the Massachusetts HEALing Communities Study data dashboard. This dashboard displays community-filtered, monthly data about overdose deaths, high-risk opioid prescriptions, community/pharmacy naloxone distribution, and individuals receiving buprenorphine treatment.

Wake Forest IMPOWR Dissemination Education and Coordination Center (IDEA-CC) (Presenter: Meredith C. B. Adams, M.D., M.S., Wake Forest University School of Medicine)

The IMPOWR (Integrative Management of chronic Pain and OUD for Whole Recovery) program conducts several clinical trials to address the needs of people who experience pain and a substance use disorder. The project’s coordination center is developing infrastructure to combine, compare, analyze, and share the findings of IMPOWR clinical trials, working toward enhancing their impact. Dr. Meredith Adams will describe a tool to harmonize data from different studies. This tool can be shared with the broader HEAL research community to enable additional discovery through re-analysis of data.  

Speakers

Marc LaRochelle M.D., M.P.H., Boston Medical Center 

Dr. Marc LaRochelle is a general internist and clinical investigator specializing in addiction medicine at Boston Medical Center and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. As a health services researcher, Dr. LaRochelle aims to learn new information through analysis of large data sources, toward developing interventions to improve the quality and value of healthcare delivered. He serves as the Director of the Informatics Core for the Massachusetts site of the HEALing Communities Study.

Meredith C. B. Adams, M.D., M.S., Wake Forest University School of Medicine

Dr. Meredith C. B. Adams is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Wake Forest Baptist Health. She is board certified in anesthesiology, pain medicine, and clinical informatics. Dr. Adams uses a range of strategies in her informatics research, including economic analysis, machine learning and artificial intelligence tool development, data infrastructure support, and data visualization, all with an eye to health equity. 

Moderator

Jessica Mazerik, Ph.D., Director, HEAL Data Ecosystem

Dr. Jessica Mazerik is the Director of the HEAL Data Ecosystem. She is leading efforts to build and support a community around HEAL-generated data and working with a team of NIH staff and awardees to establish a secure data access and computing environment.

For More Information, Contact:

Carol Gianessi, Ph.D., at [email protected]

 

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