Interdisciplinary Leadership

CUSSW, the DSUD and the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, are recognized as national leaders in guiding pharmacological and behavioral treatment development, workforce development, systems practice innovation, and dissemination and implementation of best practices for high quality outcomes. CUSSW has leading scientists in addiction and heath research who have been funded for several decades. Within CUSSW, the Social Intervention Group (SIG), established in 1990,  focuses  on  the  design,  development,  and  implementation  of  evidence-based  sustainable

solutions to emerging health and social issues affecting diverse populations domestically and globally, including substance use, the opioid epidemic, HIV, trauma and mental health. SIG has designed and tested numerous interventions for people who use drugs that have been identified by the CDC as best practices and disseminated in real world settings. SIG has three training programs: a NIDA T32 training program on HIV and substance, a NIDA T32 training program focused on implementation research for biobehavioral interventions for the criminal justice system, and a NIMH R25 to support underrepresented young investigators focused on HIV prevention and intervention research. In collaboration with the DSUD, SIG was recently awarded an $86 million multisite grant to implement a study spanning 16 NY State counties as part of the Healing Communities Initiative funded by NIH. This prestigious award is a testament to the experience and reputation of these two impressive academic Departments/Divisions, along with their numerous collaborators across Columbia, from other academic institutions, and within the community.

The Division on Substance Use Disorders (DSUD) has been a leader in developing and promoting evidence-based medication and behavioral treatments for substance use disorders since its inception in 1992. With approximately $62 million in federal and nonfederal opioid and other substance use disorder related grants in the current portfolio, the DSUD has actively been conducting cutting-edge research in both the human behavioral laboratory and outpatient treatment settings to find novel interventions that target opioid and other substance use disorders. The DSUD has been a leading force in conducting real-world implementation of promising therapeutics in the National Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network (CTN), a NIDA sponsored consortium of academic and community partners that focuses on reducing the gap between discovery and practice by conducting research in community settings. Notably, the DSUD has a strong, long-lasting commitment to education and training. The DSUD’s faculty have championed addiction pathophysiology and treatment education to medical students, residents, and other health professionals throughout the Medical Center. Moreover, the Division has had a NIDA T32 training program for nearly 25 years and an addiction psychiatry residency for 2 decades. Together, this has produced a generation of leaders in the addiction field increasingly focused on scaling access to evidence-based treatment at the population level. Nationally, the DSUD is one of the Core Partners in providing strategic planning and clinical expertise for the SAMHSA-supported State Targeted Response-Technical Assistance (STR-TA) initiative (now entitled Opioid Response Network, ORN). The ORN, which provides support to all 50 states and 9 territories to respond to the opioid epidemic, was authorized by the 21st Century Cures Act. Additionally, the DSUD provides clinical treatment, policy, and implementation science expertise to the Provider Clinical Support System (PCSS) which supports the addiction workforce in providing evidence-based opioid use disorder treatment services, as well as consulting to NIDA, the NIDA CTN, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), the Office of Mental Health (OMH), OASAS, the American Psychiatric Association, the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the National Quality Forum (NQF), and the United Nations.

The Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, home to Columbia University’s NIH sponsored Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) Program hub, is one of over 50 medical research institutions across the nation that work together to speed the translation of research discovery into improved patient care. Columbia University became one of the first 12 academic institutions in the nation to receive CTSA Program funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2006. Combined with increased support from our long-time benefactors, the late Herbert and Florence Irving, the new CTSA Program funding enabled the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research to become the academic and intellectual home for the next generation of clinical and translational researchers at

Columbia University. The NIH CTSA Program has continually funded the Irving Institute since 2006, with the third and most recent 5-year grant cycle from July 2016 through June 2021 (~$50 million).

The institute, located at the medical center (CUIMC), is an interdisciplinary driver of research and training initiatives at Columbia University and provides over 60 services and programs to Columbia researchers and study teams, our community partners in upper Manhattan, and collaborators from other academic institutions, industry, and local and regional government. These offerings span all stages of the translational science spectrum from basic research to public health, and cover six broad categories including research support services, core facilities, funding opportunities, community engagement, seminars and workshops, and education, training and mentoring. The Irving Institute’s main partners are New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

The mission of the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research is to advance discoveries, knowledge, and innovation to improve human health across the lifespan for diverse populations in upper Manhattan and around the world. By mobilizing and connecting Columbia University’s researchers, we create a seamless integration of community and academic partnerships. Our commitment to train a multi-faceted workforce, provide vital resources to researchers, and improve the efficiency of research processes, promotes the collaborative team science framework needed to translate research discoveries into effective interventions that address current and future health concerns. The Irving Institute's goals are to: (1) Catalyze innovations in clinical and translational science so that researchers can seek out and easily collaborate with other investigators in both similar and different areas of biomedical research. (2) Affect institutional changes to ensure that multi- and interdisciplinary clinical and translational research, mentorship and team science is recognized, supported and promoted appropriately. (3) Train and educate a diverse workforce who will become agents of change as they translate basic science findings to the treatment of people. (4) Improve the health and well-being of our patients and neighbors in upper Manhattan.

In response to the opioid crisis, the Irving Institute began an extensive internal environmental scan and brainstorming process and in December 2017, convened a group of over 60 Columbia University experts across the spectrum of opioid research ranging from the mechanisms of pain to community interventions, drug abuse treatment research, neuroscience, implementation research, and education. Multiple schools and departments throughout Columbia University have been engaged including engineering, nursing, dentistry, social work, psychology, business, and chemistry, as well as Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and New York State Psychiatric Institute. Four working groups (Improving prescribing and pain management, improving addiction treatment, improving engagement of community resources, facilitating bench to bedside discoveries and translation) were developed through the brainstorm, a steering committee was formed and a major University-wide symposium was held in 2018. Through the steering committee, the working groups, seed funding and directed match-making, the Irving Institute leads and stimulates and foster new collaborations among researchers, industry partners, and the community to address the opioid crisis. These new partnerships have and will continue to facilitate Columbia University’s response to funding opportunities and implementation of new strategies. Amongst many new partnerships and research projects that were stimulated by this initiative, notable examples of seed funding include support in leading  to  Columbia’s  successful  HEALing  Communities  award,   and   for   Columbia   University’s naloxone training program, recently highlighted by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) at the White House.