UTHealth School of Public Health selected for NIH grant to identify opioid overdose patterns, predict opioid overdose epidemics

The UTHealth School of Public Health has been selected to receive a National Institute of Health (NIH) five-year grant titled, “Predict to Prevent: Dynamic Spatiotemporal Analyses of Opioid Overdose to Guide Pre-Emptive Public Health Responses.”

Cici Bauer, PhD, from UTHealth School of Public Health, and Thomas Stopka, PhD, from Tufts University serve as the multiple principal investigators of this R01 grant. "R01 is a funding mechanism from NIH research grants and is very prestigious and competitive to get," says Dr. Bauer.

The total grant amount is $3.4 million, with UTHealth awarded over $1 million. Tufts University is the contact institution of the grant.

Spearheading the School of Public Health effort is Bauer, who serves as an assistant professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Data Science. “Opioid overdose fatalities have reached crisis levels in all socioeconomic and geographic communities in the U.S.,” she says. “Utilizing a first-of-its-kind statewide Public Health Data Warehouse in Massachusetts with multiple linked administrative datasets and state-of-the-art Bayesian spatiotemporal models, we are in a unique position to fill in the gaps in the field’s ability to rapidly identify opioid overdose patterns, predict future opioid epidemics, and evaluate the effectiveness of public health and clinical interventions.”

Dr. Bauer is optimistic that the linked database will identify individual, interpersonal, community and societal factors that contribute to opioid overdose.  “We need these forecasting models that rely on linked administrative data to forecast future opioid overdose spikes and assess public health intervention success,” she explains. “We plan to develop a comprehensive approach to identify the factors that contribute to opioid overdose, efficiently detect overdose hotspots, and develop forecasting models for timely prediction and prevention of future opioid overdose epidemics.”

Home to diverse communities that reflect the future population of the U.S., students at the UTHealth School of Public Health are uniquely positioned to gain hands-on experience on local projects with national significance. Our faculty are pioneering radical solutions for imminent public health problems and provide the tools and resources that will push students to think critically and creatively both in and out of the classroom.  This is where academic rigor meets real-world application.

Founded in 1967, UTHealth School of Public Health is home to students and faculty from over 54 countries, who bring new perspectives, experiences, and opportunities to our classrooms. The school has built relationships with city governments, new communities, academic institutions, and industries to better support the needs of culturally complex and diverse areas in which we live work, and play.