Injury Center First Term Seminar Series: Overdose Prevention and Drug Control Policy
Each academic term, the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy offers a graduate seminar course on various injury topics. Seminars are open to all. Students pursuing the Certificate in Injury and Violence Prevention are required to register for 305.861.71, Graduate Seminar in Injury Research and Policy, for all four terms (see Certificate for more details).
About the Event
Hosted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy, the seminar series is designed to advance your understanding of injury, violence, and resulting disability as public health problems. Each term the seminar has a unique focus, including for example, foundational issues, current research, methodological approaches, unmet needs and emerging topics, as well as the application of policy, law and practice for injury and violence prevention. Students hear from leading experts in the field and read literature provided to accompany each presentation. All seminars will be offered via Zoom; links will be provided at the beginning of each term.
Seminars are held every Monday, August 26 through October 21 from 12:10 - 1:20 p.m. ET via Zoom
Register to Attend
Speakers
August 26: Course Introduction: "Drug Control Policy and Overdose Prevention"
*Please note, this session is only open to students currently pursuing the Certificate in Injury and Violence Prevention.
Olivia K. Sugarman, PhD, MPH
Assistant Scientist
Department of Health Policy and Management
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
A top priority for injury control is to ensure the broad implementation of evidence-based overdose prevention strategies. This seminar provides fundamental information about the concepts, terminology, and intervention strategies that will be covered in presentations throughout the term. Dr. Sugarman will discuss the current state of the overdose crisis and provide an overview of overdose prevention strategies.
September 9: "Increasing Alcohol Taxes to Reduce Alcohol-Related Harms in New Mexico"
*Session Co-Sponsor: Lerner Center for Public Health Advocacy
Marlene Lira, (DrPh student), MPH
Director of Research
Workit Health
New Mexico has had the highest alcohol-related mortality of all U.S. states for over 25 years, with an age-adjusted rate of alcohol-related death approximately twice the national rate. There is strong evidence that more restrictive alcohol control policies can reduce alcohol consumption and protect against a variety of alcohol-related health outcomes ranging from alcohol-related liver disease to car crashes to gun violence. Alcohol pricing policies, including increasing excise taxes, are among the most effective interventions. However, alcohol excise taxes were last increased in New Mexico in 1993. Given the disproportionate burden of alcohol-related harms experienced within the state, legislation has been introduced in the last two legislative sessions to increase alcohol taxes. This presentation will describe recent legislative efforts, challenges, and the growing political will to change course and prevent future generations from disproportionately experiencing harms from alcohol use in New Mexico.
September 16: "Overdose Fatality Review Teams"
Mallory O'Brien, PhD, MS
Associate Scientist
Department of Health Policy and Management
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Overdose Fatality Review (OFR) teams are multidisciplinary groups that share information on local overdose cases to identify patterns and provide recommendations for overdose prevention. This presentation will detail the efforts and role of OFR teams in overdose prevention.
September 23: "Policy Responses to the Volatile Drug Supply Using Xylazine as a Case Study"
Olivia K. Sugarman, PhD, MPH
Assistant Scientist
Department of Health Policy and Management
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
In this current chapter of the overdose epidemic, the illicit drug supply is an unpredictable, and heterogeneous mix of opioids and adulterants. Xylazine is a large animal veterinary sedative that has quickly spread throughout the U.S. drug supply, most often with fentanyl and is increasingly associated with fatal overdoses, severe soft tissue wounds, and serious withdrawal symptoms. Xylazine has no reversal agent, and traditional medications to treat opioid use disorder and withdrawal symptoms are less effective in relieving withdrawal symptoms. Until recently, xylazine was not a controlled substance in most states. This presentation will provide an overview of changes in the U.S. drug supply over the course of the overdose epidemic, policy responses to those changes, and how federal and state policymakers are responding to xylazine as a recent and novel adulterant in the drug supply.
September 30: "Methods for Identifying Emerging Drug Trends"
Nae Y. Won, PhD, MPH
Postdoctoral Fellow - NIDA T32 DDET
Department of Mental Health
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
The National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS) is a workgroup dedicated to identifying new and emerging drug trends across the US to prevent the next drug epidemic. This presentation will introduce a novel surveillance method for identifying new drug trends and highlight the collaboration among multiple stakeholders who work together to monitor and respond to emerging drug threats.
October 7: "Harm Reduction and Treatment Use Among People at High Risk of Overdose: Results from the VOICES Survey"
Sachini Bandara, PhD, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Mental Health
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
This presentation will provide an overview of the VOICES Survey, a survey characterizing the lived experience of 2000 + people who use drugs. The survey was conducted in partnership with 39 community organizations across 4 states. The goal of VOICES is to characterize the use of treatment and harm reduction services among a racially and ethnically and socially diverse multistate group of people at high risk for drug overdose.
October 14: "Harm Reduction and Changes in the Drug Supply"
Danielle German, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor
Department of Health, Behavior and Society
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
This presentation summarizes findings from mixed methods research to understand polysubstance use, experiences with xylazine, and perspectives on drug supply toxicity to inform overdose prevention and other harm reduction efforts in Baltimore and across Maryland.
October 21: Seminar Reflection -- Discussion Session
*Please note, this session is only open to students currently pursuing the Certificate in Injury and Violence Prevention.
Olivia K. Sugarman, PhD, MPH
Assistant Scientist
Department of Health Policy and Management
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
We will collectively review key concepts of overdose prevention and connect those key concepts with content from guest lectures throughout the term.
Registration
This term's seminar series is led by Olivia K. Sugarman, PhD, MPH. Seminars are held every Monday, August 26 through October 21 from 12:10 - 1:20 p.m. ET via Zoom.