ADAI News

Research Assistant @ Recovery Centers of King County

Recovery Centers of King County is a community treatment program and part of the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network. RCKC is seeking a Research Assistant to assist in the administration of a large NIDA-funded multi-site study investigating the safety and effectiveness of buprenorphine with naltrexone for the treatment of cocaine dependence. The primary purpose of the Research Assistant position is to represent the “front line” of this research and to carry out the day-to-day activities of this study. The Research Assistant will work in collaboration with the Research Coordinator, medical staff, and staff from the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute at the University of Washington in implementing this study protocol. 

* For more about this position (and other addiction research jobs in the Seattle area), please see the Employment page on the ADAI website:  http://adai.washington.edu/jobs.htm

Substance Use and HIV Research Symposium

The University of Washington Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) is sponsoring a FREE symposium entitled “Substance Use and HIV Research.”

When: Thursday, August 26, 2010, 10:30am to 12:30pm
Where: UW Parrington Hall Forum, Room 309 (see map)

David Metzger, PhD of the University of Pennsylvania HIV Prevention Research Division will give a presentation entitled "Drug Treatment is HIV Prevention." Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute researcher Don Calsyn, PhD, will be talking about "Conducting HIV Prevention Interventions in Substance Abuse Treatment," describing his National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN) protocol, CTN-0018, “Reducing HIV/STD Risk Behaviors: A Research Study for Men in Drug Abuse Treatment.”

View the flyer for this symposium.

For more information, please contact Kate Murray at krmurray@u.washington.edu, or 206-543-8316.

Pacific Northwest Node/ADAI Authors in JSAT’s Special Supplement: A Decade of Research in the CTN

In honor of the CTN’s 10th anniversary, the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment presents “A Decade of Research by the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network.”

This special supplement features overview articles describing the completed studies and outcomes from the past decade of CTN research. It also reviews several ancillary investigations, where data from original CTN protocols is examined in a new way to reveal new correlations and propose future research.

Five articles in the issue are co-authored by researchers and clinicians from the Pacific Northwest node of the CTN, where the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute serves as the Regional Research Training Center (RRTC):

Ron Jackson, from Evergreen Treatment Services, cowrote “The First Decade of the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network: Bridging the Gap Between Research and Practice to Improve Drug Abuse Treatment,” which reviews the rationale for the CTN, describes the translation of its guiding principles into research endeavors, and anticipates the future evolution of clinical research within the Network.

In “Study Results from the Clinical Trial Network’s First 10 Years: Where Do They Lead?” Elizabeth (Betsy) Wells, Don Calsyn and Dennis Donovan from ADAI, Andrew Saxon from the VA Puget Sound, and Ron Jackson from Evergreen Treatment Services, review the completed (to date) protocols in the CTN with the aim of identifying the incremental progress toward improving drug treatment made by these trials.

“From Research to the Real World: Buprenorphine in the Decade of the Clinical Trials Network,” was co-written by Andrew Saxon of the VA Puget Sound, and reviews the 6 CTN  buprenorphine protocols (CTN-0001/2, 0003, 0010, 0027, 0030), describing related efforts to overcome challenges to the implementation of buprenorphine therapy in mainstream practice.

Jessica DiCenzo from Recovery Centers of King County, a PN Node CTP, was co-author for “Predicting Outpatient Treatment Entry Following Detoxification for Injection Drug Use: The Impact of Patient and Program Factors.”  This secondary analysis of data from CTN-0017  examined variables predicting outpatient treatment entry within six months of residential detoxification.

And finally, Don Calsyn from ADAI co-authored “Multisite Effectiveness Trials of Treatments for Substance Abuse and Co-Occurring Problems: Have We Chosen the Best Designs?“  This article systematically examines, for each of the completed CTN protocols, the experimental design type chosen and its original rationale, the main findings of the trials, and the strengths and weaknesses of the design in hindsight.

Congratulations to all our Pacific Northwest Node authors!

Find these articles and all the others from the JSAT special supplement in the CTN Dissemination Library.

Calling all CDPs and Counselors — Free Online Video Workshop from the CTN!

Are you interested in earning FREE CEUs?  Do you want to learn how your peers are using NIDA research in their clinical programs?

Watch the 2-hour online video Methods for Disseminating Evidence-Based Treatments ~ From the Frontlines of Community Treatment Programs, showcasing real-world examples of how treatment providers in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (NIDA CTN) are successfully disseminating evidence-based treatment into their practice settings.  The video is available in the CTN Dissemination Library.

From a substance abuse counselor:  “The web information was easy to access and I like the variety in the workshop discussions. . . It was designed with me in mind.  If I can do it, anyone can!”

Watch the video, take a quick ten-item quiz, and then apply to receive 3 NAADAC contact credit hours from the National Office of the Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC).  It’s easy!  These credits are being offered FREE for a limited time by the NATTC, so don’t delay!

Get started here:  http://ctndisseminationlibrary.org/display/402.htm

This training is NOT limited to CTN providers.  Please distribute our flyer to anyone you think might be interested!

ADAI's CTN INVEST Fellow to Present at April's Steering Committee Meeting

Dr. Leonard Estacio, Jr., the Pacific Northwest Node's NIDA CTN INVEST Fellow, will be presenting about methamphetamine use among Filipino adolescents at the upcoming Steering Committee meeting this April.

CTN INVEST Fellows spend 12 months doing postdoctoral training at CTN Regional Research Training Centers like ADAI, helping to develop an international network of scientists dedicated to exchanging information and collaborating on drug abuse research at a national, regional, and global level.

Dr. Estacio, an Associate Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences at the University of the Philippines in Manila, will be giving the  lunchtime presentation on April 20 (12:30pm) entitled "Community-based Randomized Clinical Trial Using Behavioral Therapies to Reduce Methamphetamine Use among Adolescent Filipinos."

Hope to see you there!

View lecture flyer.

NIDA's CTN: What Might CHAMMP Be Getting Itself Into?

In its renewal application to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Pacific Northwest Node of the CTN invited CHAMMP to join as a member of its affiliated community-based programs. Dennis Donovan, PhD, Principal Investigator of the PNW Node and Director of the UW Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute, will speak to the staff at CHAMMP and others who may be interested to hear more about the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network.  

The presentation will provide background about the CTN, its underlying philosophy of bidirectionality, and the clinical research that it has conducted in its 10 years of operation.  It will also present information about the Pacific Northwest Node, the research and dissemination opportunities that it presents, and the role CHAMMP may play – all the information that is needed to answer the question of “what CHAMMP might be getting itself into.”

Thursday, February 18^th, 10-11 am
CHAMMP at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle

Sexual Risk Reduction for Men and Women in Substance Abuse Treatment: New CTN Manuals Published

Two CTN studies involving researchers and community treatment providers in the Pacific NW Node, in conjunction with programs in other states, have produced manuals that guide clinicians in the implementation of evidence-based interventions for reducing sexual risk behavior among men and women in substance abuse treatment.  Evergreen Treatment Services (Seattle) participated in both studies.  

Don Calsyn, PhD (ADAI) was the lead investigator for CTN-0018, Reducing HIV/STD Risk Behaviors: A Research Study for Men in Drug Abuse Treatment.  The manual Real Men Are Safe (REMAS): A Gender-Focused HIV and Sexual Risk Reduction Intervention for Men in Substance Abuse Treatment is a five-session, group-delivered intervention package designed to help clients in substance abuse treatment reduce their HIV risk.  Outcomes from CTN-0018 found that the this motivational and skills training HIV intervention was associated with greater sexual risk reduction than a standard HIV education session, suggesting that substance abuse treatment programs can help reduce sexual risk among their patients by providing not only information, but also practice skills.

Directed by Susan Tross, PhD in New York, CTN-0019 led to the development of the manual, Safer Sex Skills Building: A Manual for HIV/STD Safer Sex Skills Groups for Women in Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment.  This is also a five-session intervention package, focusing on the importance of changing high-risk behaviors and teaching women the social and technical skills necessary to keep them from engaging in these high-risk behaviors, including skills intended to help women protect themselves from partner abuse as the potential result of assertiveness around safer sex.

The manuals were formatted for publication by CTN Dissemination Librarian Meg Brunner (PN Node), and are now available to download for free from the Library’s web site. The manuals come with slides for flip charts used in the interventions, and a participants’ workbook is provided with the women’s manual. Questions about either manual may be directed to the developers.