The Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR)

Map showing Washington Heights and East Harlem with highlighted areas: Washington Heights BID and 125th Street BID in red, 5-min walking buffer in orange, and 10-min walking buffer in blue, with OnPoint Washington Heights and OnPoint East Harlem.

Opening of overdose prevention centers in New York City was not associated with significant changes in neighborhood foot traffic or consumer spending, suggesting no observed economic harms near these #HarmReduction sites.

ja.ma/403HXgS

Line graphs compare mental health treatment services by language, 2015-2024. Graph A: Facilities offering services in a specified language. Graph B: Counties with at least one facility. Both show higher percentages for non-English, non-Asian languages.

From 2015 to 2024, only 5.6% of US mental health facilities offered treatment services in an Asian language, with access concentrated in metropolitan areas and nearly absent in rural counties.

ja.ma/4cdEbJb

Writing Accountability Groups Bring Many Benefits (opinion) Writing accountability groups support all faculty and address unequal workloads.

New from CDUHR PPM Core Director Dustin Duncan, WAGs can be both productivity tools and equity interventions.

Rebalancing Academic Productivity
Writing accountability groups support all faculty and address unequal workloads.
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...

Image of first page from the journal article mentioned and linked in post, Travel Time to Opioid Treatment Programs in Connecticut—Still Waiting for Methadone.

Check out the latest from CDUHR investigators Noa Krawczyk and David Frank - Travel Time to Opioid Treatment Programs in Connecticut—Still Waiting for Methadone
jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Counting the costs of global HIV funding disruptions In a session on US government funding cuts at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2026) held in Denver, US this week, Dr Jennifer Kates, from the Kaiser Family Foundation, started by asking a crucial question: “What’s the impact on people?”

News from CROI 2026: Counting the costs of global HIV funding disruptions #CROI2026

What do U.S. adults think about the legal use of #psychedelics & other drugs?

% supporting legal use:

#Cannabis-65%
#Psilocybin-23%
#LSD-10%
#MDMA-9%
#Cocaine-8%

New @rand.org report does a deep dive, going beyond this simple yes/no/don't know question ⬇️

www.rand.org/pubs/researc...

⚠️ TONIGHT ⚠️

Feeling the strain of advocacy? Join "Resilience Amid the Resistance" for support and strategies to stay strong through ALL of your advocacy endeavors!

Register here:
us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Image of first page from the journal article mentioned and linked in post, Alcohol and Cannabis co-use and HIV Risk, Treatment and Prevention Outcomes: A Scoping Review.

Check out the latest study from CDUHR investigators Yen-Tyng Chen and Justin Knox - Alcohol and Cannabis co-use and HIV Risk, Treatment and Prevention Outcomes: A Scoping Review
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Don’t deprioritize curiosity-driven research Around the world, governments are demanding that research funding follow broader political priorities. They should be careful what they wish for.

Don’t deprioritize curiosity-driven research
"Curiosity-driven research can lead to innovation outside scientists’ intended designs." - polymerase chain reaction (PCR), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Community health project in Kenya and Uganda dramatically cuts new HIV infections Large-scale study finds that simplifying delivery of prevention medication and improving connections to clinics is key

Community health project in Kenya and Uganda dramatically cuts new HIV infections
Large-scale study finds that simplifying delivery of prevention medication and improving connections to clinics is key
www.science.org/content/arti...

French study confirms efficacy of on-demand PrEP Eight years after it started, the final results of a large French study that offered a choice of daily or event-driven oral PrEP (using tenofovir disoproxil/emtricitabine) were presented at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2026) in Denver, US yesterday.

News from CROI 2026: French study confirms efficacy of on-demand PrEP #CROI2026

Harm Reduction Without Humans? The Risks and Potential of AI - Filter In November 2023, California teenager Sam Nelson put a question to ChatGPT. “How many grams of kratom gets you a ...

"People are already using AI for harm reduction ... What’s left is the question of how harm can be minimized—and potential benefits maximized—when chatbots step into a role that has always depended on human judgment and human compassion."

Brooke Nolan reports:

Screenshot of paper title and authors for our new paper in Social Science & Medicine. Citation: Fleming, Taylor; Boyd, Jade; Kerr, Thomas; McNeil, Ryan. (2026) Haunted houses: Using photovoice to understand emotional geographies in single room occupancy housing. Social Science & Medicine, 396: 119106.

Our new photovoice paper draws on theories of haunted houses and emotional geographies to explore how settler colonialism, endemic gendered & racialized violence, and systemic neglect shape affective realities of living in single room occupancy housing.

authors.elsevier.com/a/1mg0e-CmV9...

Image of first page from the journal article mentioned and linked in post, Identifying Factors Associated With Intentional and Unintentional Fentanyl Use Among People Who Use Drugs in New York City.

Check out the latest study from CDUHR investigator Amanda Bunting - Identifying Factors Associated With Intentional and Unintentional Fentanyl Use Among People Who Use Drugs in New York City
journals.lww.com/journaladdic...

NIH research grant funding rates plummeted in 2025 Agency acknowledges young investigators are losing out as result of multiyear funding policy imposed by White House

NIH research grant funding rates plummeted in 2025
www.science.org/content/arti...

Panel event in NYC on March 5, to launch Filter Senior Editor Helen Redmond's book—"Liquid Handcuffs: Policing & Punishment in Methadone Clinics." ⬇️

Image of first page from the journal article mentioned and linked in post, Developing Spanish Language Intervention Content to Address Health Disparities among People Who Use Drugs, and Other Hard-To-Reach Populations.

Check out the latest study from CDUHR investigators Ian Aronson, Olivia Marcus, and Alex Bennett - Developing Spanish Language Intervention Content to Address Health Disparities among People Who Use Drugs, and Other Hard-To-Reach Populations
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Cabotegravir plus Rilpivirine for Persons with HIV and Adherence Challenges | NEJM Randomized trials of long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy (ART) in persons with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who face challenges with adherence to oral medication are lacking. We con...

It’s time we figure out how to make systems work for them! 3/3

www.nejm.org/doi/full/10....

Understanding substance use across the full spectrum of sexual identity A study led by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine reveals higher rates of substance use among all non-heterosexual groups in the U.S., including people who are uncert...

Understanding substance use across the full spectrum of sexual identity
medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02...

Why Indiana's decade-old syringe exchange law hangs in the balance Syringe exchange has always been a tough political issue in Indiana. This year, lawmakers are proposing further restrictions on the state's program.

Why Indiana's decade-old syringe exchange law hangs in the balance
"And now, as lawmakers prepare to extend the law for another two years via Senate Bill 91, they are proposing adding a host of other restrictions that advocates say limit their effectiveness."
www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

@shadac.bsky.social has a new Survey Data Finder! Really important tool which will show exactly where federal health data exists and where the gaps appear when surveys are removed. Check it out:
www.shadac.org/survey-data-...

SAj Editorial Scholar Program — applications open.
12-month mentored program for early-career scholars focused on peer review and editorial practice at the Substance Use & Addiction Journal. @sajamersa.bsky.social

🗓 Apply by March 1
🔗 amersa.org/saj-editorial-scholar-program

Why a change in fentanyl use has helped drive fewer overdose deaths This week on STATus Report, host Alex Hogan explains why a change in fentanyl use has helped drive fewer overdose deaths.

Why a change in fentanyl use has helped drive fewer overdose deaths
Users are increasingly switching from injecting drugs to smoking them
www.statnews.com/2026/02/12/f...

Our upcoming Advocacy Grand Rounds on Feb 27, 2025, will focus on advocate resiliency and addressing moral injury in an increasingly challenging health policy landscape

Register here:
us02web.zoom.us/webi...

Image of first page from the journal article mentioned and linked in post, From law enforcement to public safety: Police officer experiences of naloxone administration to reverse opioid overdose in New York City.

Check out the latest study from CDUHR investigator Bennett Allen - From law enforcement to public safety: Police officer experiences of naloxone administration to reverse opioid overdose in New York City
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

(1/2) A new study in @jama.com from @gaildonofrio.bsky.social et al found that 7-day injectable buprenorphine and daily tablet buprenorphine are equally safe and effective in engaging patients with opioid use disorder in treatment after an emergency department visit.

news.yale.edu/2026/02/11/s...

How to deal with the survey-taking AI agents that threaten to upend social science Researchers need new bot-detection strategies that exploit the limits of human reasoning rather than AI weaknesses.

How to deal with the survey-taking AI agents that threaten to upend social science
Researchers need new bot-detection strategies that exploit the limits of human reasoning rather than AI weaknesses.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Infographic showing that a 7-day extended-release injectable preparation of buprenorphine does not improve treatment engagement. Population: 1348 male, 646 female, median age 37. Intervention: 991 received extended-release vs 1003 sublingual buprenorphine.

Among adults presenting to the emergency department with untreated opioid use disorder, ED-initiated 7-day extended-release injectable buprenorphine and sublingual buprenorphine resulted in similar rates of treatment engagement at 7 days.

bit.ly/3MpURCG

One of the meetings I am most excited about this spring is the first-ever academic conference on intervention optimization, "Intervention Optimization: Science and Practice, Present and Future," in Bethesda, Maryland from May 18-20, 2026.

How AI is making me a better clinical psychologist Being a therapist is a solitary role. AI can help.

“What proved useful was the ability to pose a problem in dialogue and see alternative formulations laid out clearly enough to examine. When my own thinking began to circle, the process sometimes helped reopen questions that had quietly narrowed.”
www.statnews.com/2026/02/11/a...