# The National Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network:  New England Consortium Node

> **NIH NIH UG1** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $99,904

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses unique threats to individuals with opioid use
disorder (OUD).1,2 They are likely to be particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 and the public health measures
(i.e., social distancing) to control the disease.3,4 Specifically, individuals with OUD in remission may be at
substantial risk for return to opioid use given disruptions in addiction treatment, such as medications for OUD
(MOUD). In addition, stress due to social distancing, finances, loss of employment or housing may be a trigger
for return to use. COVID-19 may result in changes in illicit opioid supply and diverted buprenorphine and
methadone as programs and clinicians follow federal recommendations and provide patients with more take
home doses of methadone (increasing risk for overdose and diversion) and longer prescriptions of
buprenorphine. Separately, there is concern that OUD-related stigma, lack of usual source of care, and
potential consequences of a positive test (e.g., housing situation), individuals with OUD may be less likely to
seek a COVID-19 test even when clinically recommended. Importantly, all of these factors may vary widely
based on geography. To provide urgent insights on the potential impact of COVID-19 on individuals with OUD
in four US cities, and informed by prior research,5,6 we will leverage the >700 patients enrolled in Project ED-
Health (CTN-0069) and research infrastructure7 to reach individuals with OUD. Specifically, we will attempt to
contact all 738 individuals who were enrolled in Project ED-Health, at one of our four participating emergency
departments (ED) located in New York, NY; Baltimore, MD; Seattle, WA; and Cincinnati, OH, to participate in a
follow-up one time telephone-based survey. We will collect self-reported data on the impact of the COVID-19
epidemic on opioid use and treatment and COVID-19 symptoms and testing. We will triangulate these data
with an electronic survey of medical directors and site-Principal Investigators at each site to capture data on
the impact of COVID-19 on ED presentations and experiences of patients with OUD. This work will be
conducted by a team of investigators that has robust experiences in developing and implementing surveys,8-12
linking self-reported and electronic health record data,13-15 and conducting longitudinal research with individuals
with OUD.16-20 Thus, among a geographically diverse (Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, West Coast) sample of
individuals with OUD, we seek to characterize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on (Aim 1) OUD
treatment (engagement and access to MOUD), drug use, drug supply, and overdose risk, (Aim 2) COVID-19
related symptoms and testing, and (Aim 3) ED leadership reports of the presentation of patients with OUD to
the ED, ED-based buprenorphine prescribing practices, and community treatment options. These time
sensitive data are urgently needed to begin to understand the impact of COVID-19 among individuals wi...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10187813
- **Project number:** 3UG1DA015831-19S3
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Gail D'Onofrio
- **Activity code:** UG1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $99,904
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2002-09-30 → 2025-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10187813

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10187813, The National Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network:  New England Consortium Node (3UG1DA015831-19S3). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10187813. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*