Clinical Trials Network
The National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN) provides an infrastructure in which the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), academic centers, researchers, community-based service providers, and patients cooperatively develop, validate, refine, and deliver new treatment options for substance use disorders (SUDs).
The CTN seeks to bridge the gap between research and practice by prioritizing partnerships with an array of community partners to best understand and address the needs of individuals struggling with substance use. This unique partnership allows for rigorous, multisite studies to determine effectiveness across a broad range of community-based treatment settings and diversified patient populations. It also ensures the transfer of research results to clinicians, providers, and patients.
The current goals of the CTN include:
- Developing and testing strategies for the integration of SUD treatment into mainstream medical care, including primary care settings
- Facilitating research on the acceptability and effectiveness of innovative mobile technologies in the prevention and treatment of SUDs
- Generating evidence-based SUD treatment using a variety of experimental approaches, including multi-site clinical trials, pragmatic studies, comparative effectiveness studies, patient registries, feasibility trials, and implementation studies
Priority areas of research include the prevention and treatment of opioid use disorders, cannabis use disorders, and embedding and using validated SUD measures in electronic health records. The CTN also emphasizes adolescent SUD prevention and treatment as well as the use of mobile technology across the care continuum. The Northeast Node is excited to participate in this vibrant and dynamic research network.
Mission
The National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN) offers a means by which medical care providers, researchers, patients, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse cooperatively develop, validate, refine, and deliver new prevention and treatment options for SUDs.
This unique partnership enables:
- Research evaluating behavioral, pharmacological, and integrated behavioral, neuro-behavioral and pharmacological treatment interventions via rigorous, multisite clinical trials to determine effectiveness across a broad range of community-based treatment settings and diversified patient populations.
- The transfer of research results to physicians, clinicians, providers, and patients.
Northeast Node
The Northeast Node of the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN) is based out of Dartmouth College and includes a broad array of researchers, over 400 adult and/or adolescent general medical care partners, as well as other clinical, quality improvement, policy, regulatory and payer partners across the rural states of New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont.
The Northeast Node is affiliated with the National Institute of Drug Abuse-funded Center for Technology and Behavioral Health (CTBH), which is a P30 “Center of Excellence” that uses science to inform the development, evaluation, and strategic implementation of technology (web, mobile)-based therapeutic tools targeting substance use disorders (SUDs) and related issues (including HIV risk behavior and psychiatric comorbidities) [see www.c4tbh.org].
The Northeast Node team has extensive experience in all stages of SUD intervention development, ranging from feasibility, acceptability, efficacy, efficacy-effectiveness, effectiveness (including multisite effectiveness trials), cost-effectiveness, and implementation research in many contexts, including addiction and mental health specialty programs, medical specialty programs, hospitals, schools, criminal justice settings, and primary care. This work has included research on the integration of SUD interventions (including technology-based interventions) into health care systems.
The Node team’s work has been conducted with a wide array of populations including: chronic drug users, smokers, veterans, chronic pain patients, persons at risk for/living with HIV, and persons with co-occurring SUDs and mental illness. This team also has considerable experience conducting research with youth, including several lines of research focused on cannabis use and prescription opioid use disorders among youth.
As part of its activities, the Northeast Node supports an infrastructure to enhance synergy and bidirectional sharing of knowledge and resources between the NIDA-supported CTBH and the national CTN to inform science-based approaches for leveraging technology in the screening, prevention, treatment, recovery support, and care coordination of substance use disorders, with emphasis on youth and rural regions.
Center for Technology & Behavioral Health
Focused on the development, evaluation, and implementation of technology-based therapeutic tools targeting behavioral health and health behavior, the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health (CTBH) is a P30 “Center of Excellence” funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Comprised of an interdisciplinary team of leaders in behavioral science and technology, CTBH aims to draw on the dynamic synergy between innovation, rigorous evaluation, and strategic dissemination to lead transformations in delivery of evidence-based behavioral health care using technology.
Contact Us
603-646-7086
northeast.node.ctn@dartmouth.edu
46 Centerra Parkway
Suite 315
Lebanon, NH 03766