Rates of overdose continue to soar throughout the United States and, compared to the general population, former carceral residents are up to 129 times more likely to die of a drug overdose during the first two weeks after release from incarceration. Overdose is preventable with empirically supported interventions. Yet, effective adoption of scientific discoveries into practice remains a formidable challenge for public health efforts and one of the largest barriers to significantly reducing the prevalence of substance use disorders (SUD), overdoses, and related deaths – particularly among criminal legal system (CLS)-involved individuals. The proposed Research Education Core (REC) team recognizes that training emerging researchers – including early career academic scholars, research-oriented practitioners, and field-based advocates - has substantial potential to overcome research translation problems. The REC program Learning Experiences to Advance Practice (LEAP) builds on the team’s success leading REC in JCOIN 1.0. The REC leadership team has three aims. Aim 1: Provide research education and skill-building to enhance the knowledge and skills of all JCOIN members and other interested parties to conduct research with criminal legal/health agencies, their staff, and involved persons using curated content created by research experts via eLearning courses, short training experiences, and a podcast series through the LEAP Learner program. Aim 2: Create and deliver innovative training, mentorship, and support for a diverse and interdisciplinary cohort of 40 talented early career researchers (LEAP Investigators) and 40 research-interested and/or involved practitioners (LEAP Scholars) to enhance research competencies, facilitate networking connections with JCOIN researchers, and enhance career trajectories. Aim 3: Formulate and coordinate a LEAP Advisory Board that includes people with lived experience (PWLE). The proposed innovations for JCOIN 2.0 respond to the RFA and include six topically focused training packages with short introductory modules and Quick Learning Bursts (QLB) on each topic; JCOIN Grand Round Style lectures; and two new seasons per year (total of 10) of the widely followed Aced It podcast “Turning Science into Sense.” In JCOIN 2.0, LEAP Scholar training will differ from JCOIN 1.0 training in that there will be a deeper focus on implementation science and increased opportunities to engage through the Implementation and Translation Research Projects (I-Trans) Core and/or other JCOIN 2.0-related opportunities. LEAP Scholars and Investigators will be mentored through experiential projects using implementation frameworks like Re-Aim or EPIS. In JCOIN 2.0, the team proposes that mentoring and alumni opportunities will be made available indefinitely. Similarly, the networking and experiential project activities will be enhanced. LEAP participants will receive detailed training in the responsible conduct of research. The diverse REC advisory...