Drug dependence is a persistent problem for which new treatments, both behavioral and pharmacological, are continually being developed. We need to find ways by which new treatments, once shown to be effective, can be transferred into real world practice in community-based treatment programs where most drug abusers seek help. A number of barriers between researchers and clinicians, however, have made such a transition difficult. A 1998 report from the Institute of Medicine challenged the field to work on "bridging the gap," to facilitate a better working relationship between treatment providers and clinical researchers who share the common goal of improving substance abuse treatment and its outcomes. To help address this gap, the National Institute on Drug Abuse developed the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN), in which researchers and clinicians work in partnership to develop areas of mutual interest for future clinical research and to test promising therapies in community settings.
In January 2001, the University of Washington Alcohol
and Drug Abuse Institute received a five-year grant from NIDA
to join the CTN as the Pacific Northwest Node, one of seventeen state
and regional nodes throughout the country. ADAI and UW researchers
from many departments comprise the node's Regional Research and
Training Center which has as its primary focus the development,
implementation, and evaluation of behavioral and pharmacological therapies
for drug abuse, targeted at treatment as delivered in community settings.
As part of the larger Clinical Trials Network, the Pacific Northwest
Node conducts behavioral and pharmacological research studies as a
means of informing policy, therapy development, and the evaluation
process, with a goal of contributing meaningfully to improved effectiveness
of new and promising therapies. Investigators at the UW have a long
history of working with community programs in research and program
evaluation, collaborating on multi-site clinical trials, developing
and evaluating both pharmacotherapy and behavioral therapy, conducting
services research, and translating and disseminating results into
information useful for clinicians and policy makers.
In August 2007, the Pacific Northwest Node was awarded
an additional three years of funding for the CTN project. The Node
also expanded to include a treatment center in Sitka, Alaska, the
SouthEast Alaska Regional Health
Consortium, as well as the Addiction Treatment Center at the VA
Puget Sound and American Lake hospitals in Washington. (PN
Node Organizational Chart).
Eight community-based treatment programs (CTPs) are
participating in the Pacific Northwest Node (five core sites and three
auxilliary). These programs were selected to represent a range of
patient populations with regard to ethnic background and primary drugs
of abuse. Some populations, notably American Indians and methamphetamine
users, are under-represented in other Nodes within the CTN. The eight
programs also represent a variety of treatment modalities and geographic
locations throughout Washington and Alaska.
Ten study protocols are completed or underway in the
Pacific Northwest Node in collaboration with treatment programs in
other CTN Nodes. More studies will be announced as they are implemented.
