FRI is pleased to announce that Drs. Jan Gryczynski and Courtney Nordeck have joined the “Continuum of Care in Hospitalized Patients with Opioid Use Disorder and Infectious Complications of Drug Use” study as Co-Investigators. This study, known as CHOICE-STAR, is funded through the NIH HEAL Initiative and led by Drs. Sarah Kattakuzhy, Elana Rosenthal, and Edward Traver at the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Institute for Human Virology and Kahlert Institute.

The CHOICE-STAR study will examine approaches to improving outcomes for patients with opioid use disorder who are hospitalized for injection-related infections. This multicenter trial will enroll 608 participants at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, MD, the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC, Emory University and Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, GA, and West Virginia University J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, WV.

The 3-arm randomized clinical trial will compare Treatment as Usual, an integrated clinic to address infectious disease and OUD treatment needs, and an adaptation of the Navigation Services to Avoid Rehospitalization (NavSTAR) intervention. In a prior FRI study, NavSTAR was found to promote treatment entry and reduce hospital readmissions among patients with comorbid substance use disorders.

As part of the CHOICE-STAR study, Drs. Gryczynski and Nordeck will oversee the implementation of the study’s NavSTAR arm, which will be delivered by Patient Navigator Dyads comprised of a masters-level social worker and a community health worker or peer recovery specialist. Their role includes adapting their NavSTAR intervention for the trial, training the Navigator Dyads, ongoing caseload monitoring and review, leading a cross-site Patient Navigation learning collaborative, and contributing to interpretation and dissemination of findings.