Dr. Shannon Gwin Mitchell Receives R01 Award

FRI is pleased to announce that Dr. Shannon Gwin Mitchell (PI) was recently awarded a new R01 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The “Treating Polysubstance Use in Methadone Maintenance: Application of Novel Digital Technology” study will examine the use of a digital contingency management delivery tool for people with opioid and cocaine polysubstance use receiving methadone treatment. FRI Co-investigators include Drs. Maxine Stitzer, Jan Gryczynski, and Jesse Fletcher. Methadone is a highly effective treatment for opioid use disorder, but many patients leave treatment prematurely, placing them at high risk of relapse and overdose. Extensive research shows that comorbid cocaine use is associated with poor retention in methadone treatment. The newly-funded study will examine a novel intervention designed to improve methadone treatment retention and other outcomes among people with opioid and cocaine polysubstance use. The design is a 2-arm randomized controlled trial comparing participants receiving treatment as usual from the participating methadone treatment programs with those receiving the DynamiCare Health Contingency Management (DCM) app in addition to their methadone treatment. The primary behaviors relevant to retention that will be targeted with incentives using the DCM program include abstinence from opioids and cocaine, as verified via remote oral fluid testing, and medication pickup from the methadone program, as verified by clinic records. Findings from this project can improve the public health impact of methadone treatment by identifying an effective and scalable approach to address polysubstance use among patients at heightened risk of treatment dropout.