Thursday, August 21, 2025 8/21/2025

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

Award Number: R01DA055851
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/30/2023
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2028

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UnityPhilly Response App for Overdose Reversal: Assessing Citywide Effectiveness and Sustainability - 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. 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 innovative as it improves upon a previous developed successful mobile phone app and expands its use to a broader population of users in a large city most impacted by the opioid crisis.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $1,279,836 )
2025	2025	DREXEL UNIVERSITY	3141 CHESTNUT ST	PHILADELPHIA	PA	19104	PHILADELPHIA	USA	Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs	000	3	8/11/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$1,279,836
														Subtotal = $1,279,836

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $1,164,507 )
2024	2024	DREXEL UNIVERSITY	3141 CHESTNUT ST	PHILADELPHIA	PA	19104	PHILADELPHIA	USA	Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs	002	2	8/6/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$1,164,507
2024	2023	DREXEL UNIVERSITY	3141 CHESTNUT ST	PHILADELPHIA	PA	19104	PHILADELPHIA	USA	Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs	000	1	10/11/2023	NEW	$0
2024	2023	DREXEL UNIVERSITY	3141 CHESTNUT ST	PHILADELPHIA	PA	19104	PHILADELPHIA	USA	Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs	001	1	8/2/2024	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $1,164,507

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $979,886 )
2023	2023	DREXEL UNIVERSITY	3141 CHESTNUT ST	PHILADELPHIA	PA	19104	PHILADELPHIA	USA	Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs	001	1	9/21/2023	NEW	$0
2023	2023	DREXEL UNIVERSITY	3141 CHESTNUT ST	PHILADELPHIA	PA	19104	PHILADELPHIA	USA	Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs	000	1	9/19/2023	NEW	$979,886
														Subtotal = $979,886

Grand Total All Awards = $3,424,229

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

Award Number: R01DA055851

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/30/2023

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2028

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