Federal Project Grant Award Summary

Indiana University Indianapolis received a $169,167 mentored career development award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279), effective May 1, 2026 through April 30, 2031. The award supports a two-aim research initiative to improve access to high-quality adolescent opioid use disorder (OUD) and substance use disorder (SUD) services in primary care settings. In Aim 1, the recipient will define quality indicators for adolescent OUD/SUD care in primary care through a modified Delphi study with multidisciplinary experts and existing healthcare quality frameworks. In Aim 2, the recipient will develop a single-session strategies for implementation (S3) approach targeting primary care providers to facilitate implementation of high-quality adolescent OUD/SUD care, followed by piloting the approach in pediatric primary care clinics to evaluate preliminary implementation outcomes.

This award addresses the critical public health challenge of rising adolescent overdose deaths involving illicitly manufactured fentanyl and other illicit substances by focusing on both access to and quality of OUD/SUD services. The research recognizes that while integrating OUD/SUD services into primary care increases accessibility, the quality of such services often varies significantly and may not be timely, developmentally appropriate, or evidence-based, resulting in premature service discontinuation and suboptimal outcomes. The project is positioned to generate actionable quality indicators and implementation strategies that enable primary care providers to deliver safe, effective, and developmentally appropriate substance use disorder services to adolescents.