# Transporting treatment effects from clinical trials to real-world populations with co-occurring opioid and stimulant use disorders

> **NIH NIH K01** · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $172,285

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY AND ABSTRACT
Opioid-related overdoses are now responsible for twice as many deaths per year as car accidents in the United
States. Encouraging downward trends in prescription opioid- and heroin-related mortality have been eclipsed
by rises in overdoses and deaths attributable to synthetic opioids and concomitant use of opioids and
stimulants. Nationally, the combined use of stimulants and opioids has nearly doubled in the past decade, and
more than tripled in Western states. At least half of individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) have another
substance use disorder (SUD), and polysubstance use is the clinical norm. Although the efficacy of several
treatments for SUDs, including OUD, has been established in rigorous randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the
people enrolled in these RCTs often differ from the populations those treatments are intended to reach. In
particular, little evidence supports the effectiveness of current SUD treatments for people who use multiple
substances. Consequently, understanding and enhancing the effects of SUD treatments for people with
polysubstance use remains a NIDA priority area (PAR-20-035). The proposed research addresses this critical
knowledge gap by combining cutting-edge data science methods with an innovative data-fusion technique,
transportability, to estimate what the results of SUD treatment trials would have been had they been conducted
in representative, clinically-relevant populations of individuals with OUD and stimulant use disorders (OUD +
StimUD). In Aim 1, I fuse data from National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network RCTs with the
National Survey on Drug Use and Health. I estimate the effectiveness of medications, contingency
management, motivational interviewing, counseling, and exercise to increase treatment initiation and retention
and reduce opioid and stimulant use in the adult, civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population with OUD +
StimUD. In my second Aim, I fuse the same clinical trial data with electronic health records to estimate the
effectiveness of interventions to increase treatment engagement and retention among patients with OUD +
StimUD in the Oregon Health & Science University health system. Through completing these aims, I estimate
the real-world effectiveness of treatments for individuals with OUD + StimUD. Clinicians and policymakers may
use the results to guide treatment selection to improve the health of these complex, vulnerable patients.
Through this award, I build upon my background in epidemiology and statistics to gain expertise in cutting-
edge data science and informatics methods. Combining causal inference, machine learning, and natural
language processing techniques maximizes the innovation, validity, impact, and reach of my research. I also
receive extensive instruction in clinical addiction medicine and build my leadership, grant writing, and scientific
communication skills. Each of these new skills are crucial to completing my res...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10526149
- **Project number:** 1K01DA055130-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Ryan Cook
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $172,285
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-07-01 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10526149

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10526149, Transporting treatment effects from clinical trials to real-world populations with co-occurring opioid and stimulant use disorders (1K01DA055130-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10526149. Licensed CC0.

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