Federal Grant Award Summary

This R01 Project Grant, awarded July 15, 2026, by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279), provides $507,566 to Simon Fraser University to continue a 29-year longitudinal cohort study evaluating innovations in medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and complementary overdose prevention interventions in Vancouver, Canada. The primary deliverable is the sustained operation and analysis of the VIDUS-Opioid (VIDUS-O) cohort, a subset of the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study—one of the world's longest-running prospective cohort studies of community-recruited people who use drugs since 1996. Research will generate rigorous empirical evidence on how evolving illicit drug supply dynamics, particularly the prevalence of fentanyl and novel psychoactive substance benzodiazepines, impact MOUD access, retention, and treatment outcomes among individuals with high opioid tolerance.

The study will address critical research gaps in understanding how innovative MOUD modalities and complementary overdose prevention services—such as drug checking services—can improve treatment effectiveness in the context of an unpredictable unregulated drug supply. By documenting the synergistic effects of multiple intervention approaches and monitoring real-time changes in drug supply composition, this research will inform clinical practice guidelines and policy recommendations to better serve patients with opioid use disorder during the ongoing overdose crisis. The project extends through April 30, 2031, and is conducted at Simon Fraser University's Ottawa, Ontario facility.