Grant: Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse - Nodes

In Ontario, illicit & prescription drug misuse result in extensive harms; however major gaps in prevention and treatment interventions exist. We will establish the Ontario-based CRISM Node Team [OCRINT], an integrated team of research investigators and service providers, policy makers and people with drug/service use experience with key skills to develop and conduct relevant substance abuse intervention studies - including different intervention types, drugs, populations and methods - in Ontario and within the national CRISM network; to effectively translate study results towards improved interventions and systems; to establish a research infrastructure capable of implementing intervention studies; and to execute a community-based research demonstration project (DP). The OCRINT will comprise a total of 30 collaborating research investigators and knowledge users from across Ontario. The investigators will bring distinct research skills and experience in key areas of illicit/prescription substance use problems, populations, intervention types and research methods, with extensive collaborations with other regional CRISM teams and internationally. Knowledge users include leading representatives from community-based service/treatment organizations, provincial government/policy, public health and drug/service users. The OCRINT will be based at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada's largest substance use and mental health research hospital, and complemented by extensive substance use research and intervention/service networks across Ontario for effective knowledge translation. The DP - based on community input and collaboration with community partners - will examine key factors to prevent the transition to drug injecting among injection-naïve street drug users; develop a community-based brief intervention aiming to prevent transition to injecting; and implement the intervention and observe outcomes among young street drug users across Ontario.