NOVEMBER 15, 2024
Dawn E. Sugarman, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry
Harvard Medical School
Research Psychologist
McLean Hospital, Division of Alcohol, Drugs, and Addiction
About the Presentation: Medication treatment for opioid use disorder (MOUD) is effective but underutilized. Gender-specific substance use disorder treatments for women have been associated with increased engagement, greater satisfaction, and improved outcomes. However, these treatments have not specifically targeted women’s engagement in MOUD and the impact of existing gender-specific treatments is restricted by in-person delivery. This presentation will focus on data from a NIDA funded project that aims to develop and pilot test a digital intervention to increase women’s engagement in medication treatment for opioid use disorder. Dr. Sugarman will present data from the development phase of this project including, qualitative and quantitative data from treatment providers and women with lived experience of OUD. Next, she will discuss how these data informed the development of a digital platform to feasibly deliver gender-specific care. She will conclude with a brief overview of the pilot study, which is in progress.
About the Presenter: Dr. Sugarman received her PhD from Syracuse University and completed predoctoral and post-doctoral fellowships at Yale School of Medicine. Her research primarily focuses on the use of technology in increasing access to evidence-based treatments for substance use disorders, with an emphasis on special populations such as women and individuals with substance use and co-occurring other psychiatric disorders. Dr. Sugarman was the inaugural recipient of the Sarles Young Investigator Award for Research on Women and Addiction at McLean Hospital. She is the current recipient of a NIDA-funded K23 award focused on increasing women’s engagement in medication treatment for opioid use disorder through digital intervention. Dr. Sugarman also serves as the Managing Editor for the Harvard Review of Psychiatry.