Welcome to the CoARS website! This website provides you with updates and information on the growing science on recovery support services.
The Consortium on Addiction Recovery Science (CoARS) is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and coordinated by Dr. Aaron Hogue (PI). It is an example of NIDA’s investment in increasing our understanding of recovery support services. In 2018, NIDA announced a new funding opportunity: RFA-DA-20-014; Research Networks for the Study of Recovery Support Services for Persons Treated with Medications for Opioid Use Disorder.
Five research teams were funded, whose collective mission was to advance the science on recovery support services through research networking, training and mentoring students and early career scientists, and building community partnerships. In 2022, NIDA increased its investment in recovery support science by announcing two new RFAs: (1) fund additional research teams to build research and training infrastructure and (2) fund preliminary studies testing the effectiveness of recovery support services. NIDA also provided three years of funding to CoARS to consolidate the partnership among the eight R24 and three R34-funded research teams. This website is dedicated to sharing information on our progress, and to invite and enable participation.
• Project: The JEAP Initiative
• Topic: Recovery support services for justice-involved and emerging adult populations
• PIs: Ashli Sheidow and Michael McCart
• Project: Studies to Advance Recovery Support (STARS)
• Topic: Recovery support services in rural settings
• PIs: Robert Pack and Kimberly Horn
• Project: Innovations in Recovery Through Infrastructure Support
• Topic: Integrated networks of care
• PIs: Jay Unick and Michelle Tuten
• Project:Advancing the Science on Recovery Community Centers
• Topic: Recovery Community Centers
• PIs: Bettina Hoeppner
• Project: Collaborative Hub for Emerging Adult Recovery Research (CHEARR)
• Topic: Recovery support services, particularly clinical continuing care, for emerging adults who take or who have taken medications for opioid use disorders
• PIs: Kristyn Zajac
• CHEARR is currently recruiting a post-doctoral fellow! Please see here for more information
• Project: Peer Recovery Innovation Network (PRIN)
• Topic: Build capacity for current and future recovery-related research and provide training and technical assistance to recovery scientists and trainees
• PIs: Jennifer Potter and Robert Ashford
•Join the Recovery Science Collaboratory! Learn more about upcoming PRIN initiatives here.
• Project: The Infrastructure for Studying Treatment and Addiction Recovery Residences (I-STARR)
• Topic: Enhancing effectiveness research on recovery housing for persons prescribed medication for opioid use disorder
• PIs: Amy Mericle and Carmen Masson
• Project: Planning Grant for a Multi-Site Trial to Examine the Effectiveness of Recovery Community Centers Serving Black Communities to Support Persons Using Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
• Topic: Recovery Community Centers
• Affiliation: Health through Flourishing program, Psychiatry Department, Massachusetts General Hospital; our community partners are the Detroit Recovery Project, the Northern Ohio Recovery Association, and PILLARS.
• PIs: Bettina Hoeppner
• Updates: We have finished data collection for one of our three studies (i.e., survey of OTP directors; manuscript under review), are close to completing data collection for another study (i.e., naturalistic study of people who take MOUDs), and are designing the third study (i.e., pilot RCT).
• Project: Peer Recovery Support Services for Individuals in Recovery Residences on MOUD
• Affiliation: Maryland Treatment Centers
• PIs: Marc Fishman and Kevin Wenzel
• Updates: TBA
• Project: Development of an Integrated Intervention Involving Recovery Coaching and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Opioid Use Disorder
• Affiliation: Clemson University
• PIs: Alain Harris Litwin and Moonseong Heo
• Updates: TBA
LEARN ABOUT HOW TO BECOME A CoARS MEMBER PROJECT
Contact the Co-leaders of the CoARS Grant Development and Sustainability Workgroup:
Amy Mericle: americle@arg.org
Carmen Masson: Carmen.Mason@ucsf.edu
Upcoming seminars and forums:
• The Science of Recovery Community Centers Webinar Series: every first Friday of the month, via Zoom
• Join us on Monday, September 22 for a free virtual forum about community-engaged substance use research! This forum will launch the Community-Engaged Substance Use Research: Effective Community Board Partnerships Using Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) toolkit. Developed by our team at Chestnut Health Systems, this free online resource is grounded in lessons learned from years of partnering with individuals with lived experience through Community Boards from the JEAP Initiative, HEAL Connections, CHEARR, and PATH.
This 90-minute session will highlight practical strategies for building meaningful, equitable research partnerships featuring insights from Community Board members and researchers. The forum will walk through key themes from the toolkit and offer space for reflection and dialogue.
More info & registration here: Applying CBPR Methods in Substance Use Research Forum – JEAP Initiative
If you would like to share this on social media, here are links to posts: Facebook | X | Bluesky | LinkedIn | Instagram | Threads
If you’d like to share the forum flyer on social media, you can download it here.
Upcoming group meetings:
• The FIRST Research Network will be hosting the Diversity and Disparities Meeting every fourth Monday.
• CoARS Measures and Metrics Workgroup: every fourth Tuesday of the month at 10:00 AM EST. Please email Craig Henderson (CEH003@SHSU.EDU) to join!
• The CoARS Showcase will be held every third Wednesday, and will provide a chance for CoARS members to discuss their work and provide collaborative feedback between projects.
• STARS will be holding a Peer Support SIG meeting every first Thursday of the month at 4:00 PM EST.
Upcoming conference:
Stay tuned for upcoming conferences.
• Please see here for a recap of key takeaways from the JEAP Initiative’s Forum Series on Exploring Barriers and Facilitators to the Use of Medications for Opioid Use Disorders (MOUD)!
• The Center for Dissemination & Implementation at Stanford (C-DIAS) is currently recruiting for a Fellowship in Addiction Dissemination & Implementation (D&I) Science!
• The Collaborative Hub for Emerging Adult Recovery Research (CHEARR) is currently recruiting for young adults (ages 18-28) who have taken medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder to join their national community board!
Gilgoff, J. N., Park, E., Price, J., Scott, T., Moyd, T., Rouse, K., Knighton, G., Frey, J. J., Mattocks, N., Shook, E., Tuten, M., Unick, J.,& Wagner, F. A. (2022).
Building equitable community-academic partnerships for opioid recovery research: Lessons learned from stakeholder engagement with peer and
provider organizations. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 15(1), 479. doi: 10.54656/jces.v15i1.479
Hogue, A., Becker, S. J., Fishman, M., Henderson, C. E., & Levy, S. (2021). Youth OUD treatment during and after COVID: Increasing family involvement across
the services continuum. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 120, 108159. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2020.108159
Hogue, A., Becker, S. J., Wenzel, K., Henderson, C. E., Bobek, M., Levy, S., Fishman, M. (2021). Family involvement in treatment and recovery for substance
use disorders among transition-age youth: Research bedrocks and opportunities. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 129, 108402. doi:
Hogue, A., Bobek, M., Levy, S., Henderson, C. E., Fishman, M., Becker, S. J., Dauber, S., Porter, N., & Wenzel, K. (2021). Conceptual framework for telehealth
strategies to increase family involvement in treatment and recovery for youth opioid use disorder. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 47(2), 501-
514. doi: 10.1111/jmft.12499
Hogue, A., Bobek, M., Porter, N., MacLean, A., Wenzel, K., Fishman, M., Coatsworth, J. D., & Langer, D. A. (2023). Launching relationship-oriented behavioral
services for youth opioid use disorder: Innovations in medication decision-making and adherence planning. Child & Family Behavior Therapy. doi:
Kelly, L. M., Alessi, S. M., Rash, C. J., & Zajac, K. (2024). Predictors of Suicidal Ideation and Continued Substance Use Problems Among Patients Receiving Methadone Maintenance Treatment Who Have Co-Occurring Cocaine Use Disorder. Substance use & misuse, 59(5), 752-762. https://doi.org/10.1080/10826084.2024.2302131
We’re excited to share that our team at Chestnut Health Systems has released the final chapters of our Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) toolkit. This free online resource was created to help researchers build meaningful partnerships through Community Boards of people with lived experience with substance use.
This toolkit is grounded in years of collaboration with individuals with lived experience in the HEAL Connections Lived Experience Panel, the Initiative for Justice-Involved and Emerging Adult Populations (JEAP) Community Boards, the Collaborative Hub for Emerging Adult Recovery Research (CHEARR) Community Boards, and the Peer Advanced Training in Harm reduction (PATH) Community Board.
Our goal is to help researchers navigate the real-world challenges of community-engaged research in ways that reduce stigma and ensure meaningful inclusion of community voices. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to strengthen existing efforts, we hope this toolkit provides useful guidance and lessons learned, with a focus on “when rubber meets the road” for CBPR in substance use research.
Newly released chapters include:
Understanding and Applying CBPR Principles in Substance Use Research
Organizing Meetings and Agendas
Co-Developing Research Priorities with Community Board Members
Sustaining Meaningful Connections and Engagement with Board Members
Evaluating and Adapting the Partnership
To explore the full resource, just click the large navy-blue banner at the top of the page: https://www.jeapinitiative.org/resources-cbpr/
We’d love your help in getting the word out-please share it with your colleagues and networks. You can also help amplify the launch on social media (links to posts to share below).
Share on:
Facebook | X | Bluesky | LinkedIn | Instagram | Threads
Thank you for all you do to advance inclusive, community-engaged research.
The CoARS Measures Repository is a list of measures collectively used in R24 and R34 funded studies occurring under the CoARS umbrella. The downloadable Excel spreadsheet shows the measures sorted by topic area and network/project, as well as a pivot table that can be useful in identifying measures assessing constructs under different thematic areas.
If you have any updates to your CoARS project, please fill out our form.
To sign up for the CoARS listserv please email Mari Watkins mwatkins@toendaddiction.org
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