Center on Substance Use & Health

06/02/2026

New Paper Alert! 🔔

While long-acting injectable buprenorphine works better, some people still don’t want an injection – bubble packing low-dose buprenorphine can help for outpatient starts.

Read more here!

Blister packing was identified as a tool to allow patients to successfully complete outpatient buprenorphine LDI. Standardized protocols and collaboration with pharmacists at a public health pharmacy were key facilitators. Partnering with local pharmacies to inform implementation strategies and iden...

04/27/2026

New Paper Alert! 🔔

CSUH Epidemiologist Nora Anderson conducted a novel analysis of opioid overdose, showing both the burden of mortality among unhoused people and - among all unhoused people - the LACK of a racial disparity in overdose. Economics matter.

📖Read more here!

03/27/2026

🔔New paper alert! 🔔
A whopping 93% of stimulant deaths had evidence of chronic cardiovascular disease! Combined with the other work CSUH has done, it is time to start thinking about these deaths more like we do alcohol (mostly chronic disease) and less like we do opioids (mostly acute overdose).
Read more here:
https://lnkd.in/g-9B_594

Also, check out the accompanying editorial by Slavin and Walley (https://lnkd.in/gpuyjf7f)

03/16/2026

Not in the SF Bay Area? No worries!

Use m**h? Gay or Bi male and HIV negative? receive $40 for a brief online survey about shots to prevent HIV!

03/06/2026

🚨 New paper alert!
CSUH research nurse Finn Black, along with the CSUH and UCLA teams have produced a critical manuscript demonstrating the safety of mirtazapine in treating m**hamphetamine use disorder.

Read more here:

02/13/2026

New paper alert 🚨

Our LASSO paper comparing antecedents of stimulant deaths involving fentanyl to stimulant-only deaths found that past-year fentanyl use and opioid-related emergency department visits in the 3 years before death were associated with higher odds of having a fentanyl involved death. Additionally, having a cardiac condition was associated with lower odds of fentanyl involvement in death.

Read more here:

Our findings add to existing evidence that fentanyl-stimulant deaths are markedly different than stimulant-no-opioid deaths. The association of opioid-related emergency department history with fentanyl involvement in death reinforces a potential touch point for overdose prevention efforts (eg, nalox...

02/04/2026

New paper alert 🚨
Study led by CSUH Research Scientist Dr. Leslie Suen, interviewed 19 OBIC patients who tried low-dose buprenorphine starts.

Key takeaways:
• Many valued being able to ease into treatment without stopping use right away
• Bubble packs helped build trust and made the process feel more manageable
• Precipitated withdrawal was uncommon, but discomfort, loss of the fentanyl “high,” and lack of supportive environments/housing still made continuing challenging

These findings help understand barriers to treatment and how more flexible, patient-centered approaches could improve access and retention.

Read more here!

01/16/2026

🚨 New Paper Alert! 🚨
CSUH's Dr Appa once again advances care in HIV and stimulant use with an innovative contingency management program!

Contingency management for stimulant use and/or ART adherence (using point-of-care tenofovir assays) embedded into HIV care was associated with reduced stimulant use and gains in viral suppression. Scalability of integrating HIV and stimulant use disorder management using CM merits further evaluatio...

12/17/2025

🚨 New study alert!

Wearing many hats, CSUH scientist, Dr. Appa somehow finds time for this cutting-edge trial of XR-naltrexone to help prevent overdose from unintentional fentanyl exposure among people who use stimulants.

Exciting work that could expand the toolbox for overdose prevention and harm reduction!

Read the full article to learn more about the NOD study here!

Drug-related mortality in the United States continues to transform, marked by a surge in overdose deaths involving both fentanyl and stimulants. This patte