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Remote Fentanyl Test Strip Distribution and Education to Prevent Drug Overdose

Award Number: R61DA065247
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 04/01/2026
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 03/31/2028

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Remote Fentanyl Test Strip Distribution and Education to Prevent Drug Overdose - People who use drugs (PWUD) often experience adverse health outcomes in the year following release from incarceration, including overdose, suicide, and infectious disease. Psychological distress and illicit drug use are key mediators of these adverse outcomes, and risk is compounded by low health service engagement. Yet effective interventions targeting these mechanisms in previously incarcerated PWUD are lacking. This application proposes integrating an individually tailored behavioral intervention for drug use into the Formerly Incarcerated Transition (FIT) program, a reentry primary care program enhanced with peer support. This will target multiple mechanisms of post-release adverse outcomes, including psychological symptoms, drug use, and health service disengagement. Specific aims are: (1) Identify barriers and facilitators to implementing individually tailored therapy for drug use in a primary care setting via qualitative interviews with previously incarcerated PWUD and community stakeholders (n=15 each); (2) Develop a protocol for integrating Individually Tailored Behavioral Activation (IT-BA) therapy with the FIT program based on Aim 1 findings, with guidance from expert mentors and input from a community advisory board; and (3) Test the feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of IT-BA as an adjunct to FIT’s enhanced reentry primary care program using a randomized controlled trial (RCT). As a part of this aim, adults with current illicit drug use disorders who have been incarcerated in the past year (N=80) will be recruited from community-based settings and randomly assigned to IT-BA + FIT, or FIT treatment as usual (FIT TAU; n=40 each arm). Assessment of feasibility and acceptability will then be conducted posttreatment. Treatment outcomes will be measured from pre- to 6 months post-treatment. It is hypothesized that (1) IT-BA will be feasible and acceptable; (2) compared to FIT TAU, IT-BA + FIT will be associated with greater improvements in drug use, depressive symptoms, and healthcare engagement at posttreatment; and (2b) these effects will be sustained 6 months posttreatment. This proposal fills an important gap in research testing individually tailored psychosocial treatment for the PWUD at greatest risk of adverse outcomes, including overdose. The training plan will allow the applicant to develop new skills in three areas critical to her long-term career goals and the successful completion of the proposed project: (1) community engaged research in criminal legal and health service contexts, (2) implementation science, and (3) RCTs with longitudinal follow-up. The applicant’s career development and training goals will be accomplished through regular meetings with expert mentors, directed readings, didactic courses, and academic conferences. After study completion, the applicant will be well positioned to apply for a future hybrid type I effectiveness-implementation trial (R01) testing the intervention on a larger scale. The award will support the applicant’s goal of becoming an independent scientist contributing to the development, testing, and empirically guided implementation of interventions for illicit drug use and related health risk behaviors.


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: 2026 ( Subtotal = $447,000 )
2026	2026	UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM	701 S 20TH STREET	BIRMINGHAM	AL	35294	JEFFERSON	USA	Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs	000	1	3/18/2026	NEW	$447,000
														Subtotal = $447,000

Grand Total All Awards = $447,000

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Remote Fentanyl Test Strip Distribution and Education to Prevent Drug Overdose

Award Number: R61DA065247

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

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

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 04/01/2026

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 03/31/2028

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