# UnityPhilly Response App for Overdose Reversal: Assessing Citywide Effectiveness and Sustainability

> **NIH NIH R01** · DREXEL UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $1,164,507

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Reducing overdose mortality immediately and long-term is a top public health priority as the overdose epidemic
in the U.S. continues to worsen. The COVID-19 pandemic, which began hitting the U.S. in early 2020, has
exacerbated the overdose crisis - particularly among African Americans and Latinxs. Opioid overdose deaths,
which accounted for the most overdose deaths in 2020, continue to drive the epidemic. Overdose deaths linked
to synthetic opioids, such as illicitly manufactured fentanyl, have increased significantly and comprised most of
the opioid-related deaths in 2020. Despite increasing availability and acceptability of naloxone among
laypersons, opioid overdose deaths remain catastrophically high in communities across the U.S. The UnityPhilly
smartphone app was developed in 2018-19 alongside several community-based organizations as a public health
intervention in response to the opioid overdose crisis in Philadelphia, which has the most acute overdose
epidemic among large cities in the U.S. UnityPhilly automatically connects bystanders and victims of opioid
overdose with nearby community members who can respond immediately with naloxone. The objective of this
proposal, following a successful feasibility study (R34) and clear evidence of overdose reversal supported by
UnityPhilly, is to create an easy-to-use, effective, sustainable, and scalable smartphone app to be deployed
across the city of Philadelphia. This objective will be achieved by studying subgroups of people equipped with
naloxone and UnityPhilly (n=450) and disseminating UnityPhilly to 3,000 citizen volunteers for everyday use to
respond to opioid overdose emergencies. The long-term goal of this research is to create a scalable app that
can be disseminated to communities across the U.S. experiencing high levels of opioid overdose death. The
rationale for this study is that expanding the availability of the UnityPhilly app to laypersons citywide will increase
the speed and delivery of naloxone to opioid overdose events across Philadelphia while laying the groundwork
for scalability and broader national uptake. Our goals will be achieved with three specific aims: 1) Redevelop
UnityPhilly to ensure ease of use; 2) Assess differences in the effectiveness of UnityPhilly across varied urban
environments and participant profiles; and 3) Build and study a sustainable environment for UnityPhilly to expand
city-wide. This 5-year study will have significant impact by providing actionable evidence regarding the
effectiveness of an app-based naloxone intervention to scale up for nationwide use. The study will be conducted
in partnership with long-standing community-based organizations to ensure usability and acceptability. This
intervention is highly significant since it directly addresses one of the most significant public health problems in
the U.S. – the opioid overdose epidemic – which is worsening due to the effects of COVID-19. This intervention
is highly inno...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10932109
- **Project number:** 5R01DA055851-02
- **Recipient organization:** DREXEL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Stephen E Lankenau
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,164,507
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-30 → 2028-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10932109

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10932109, UnityPhilly Response App for Overdose Reversal: Assessing Citywide Effectiveness and Sustainability (5R01DA055851-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10932109. Licensed CC0.

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