# Simulation Modeling to Support the Public Health Response to the Opioid Crisis in North America

> **NIH NIH R13** · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · 2022 · $24,708

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Opioids were involved in almost 47,000 deaths in the U.S. in 2018—nearly the number who were killed in the
entire Vietnam War. Injection opioid and methamphetamine use are driving up rates of HIV and HCV infection.
The opioid crisis has similarly affected Canada and Mexico, leading to a call for a North American approach to
addressing the opioid crisis. Simulation models provide a structured environment for decision makers to
compare the predicted effects of proposed policy alternatives over an extended time horizon on population-
level outcomes such as overdose, HIV, and HCV. The COVID-19 pandemic has provided evidence of the utility
of using simulation models for public health decision making. Several public agencies are currently funding
opioid simulation modeling efforts in North America, including NIDA, CDC, FDA, the Canadian Institutes of
Health Research (CIHR), and Canadian provincial agencies.
Our overarching goal is to improve the speed, validity, effective knowledge translation, and

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10409779
- **Project number:** 5R13DA052198-02
- **Recipient organization:** WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Natasha Martin
- **Activity code:** R13 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $24,708
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-06-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10409779

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10409779, Simulation Modeling to Support the Public Health Response to the Opioid Crisis in North America (5R13DA052198-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10409779. Licensed CC0.

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