Combatting Substance Use Disorders in Minnesota

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Substance use disorders are a significant public health issue impacting millions across the U.S. According to the Minnesota Department of Human Services, approximately 290,000 Minnesotans are currently in need of treatment. Addressing this crisis requires innovative solutions to reduce its impact and to save lives. The Medical Discovery Team on Addiction (MDTA) at University of Minnesota brings together many resources in academia for Innovations in addiction therapeutics. With the launch of MiReN, MDTA is fostering collaboration between academia and communities throughout Minnesota, ensuring that voices of affected communities are front and center in developing new therapies. Our goal is to bring forces together from academia and community to form and accelerate the co-development and co-implementation of effective tools and technologies for assessing and treating addiction and its related conditions. By establishing a productive collaboration between addiction scientists, clinicians and researchers with community members, we aim to advance the development of new assessment methods, therapies, and interventions that are specifically designed to meet the unique needs and expectations of community members here in Minnesota.

Collaboration

MiReN is a group striving to bring recovery organizations and individuals to collaborate with the University of Minnesota's Medical Discovery Team on Addiction 

Organizations, Programs, and Communities

At MIREN, we warmly invite recovery programs and communities to collaborate with the Medical Discovery Team on Addiction to drive the co-development and co-implementation of cutting-edge treatments and interventions working together.

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Communities and recovery programs play a crucial role in translating research into practice since they can provide invaluable insights from those directly impacted by addiction to inform research for making innovative therapeutics available for addiction. We are driven to bridge the gap between scientific discoveries and real-world application, enhancing dialogue and collaboration among clinicians, scientists, researchers and people with lived or living experience with substance use and their families and friends and their community members across Minnesota. Additionally, we are determined to promote knowledge sharing through panels and lectures and to strengthen the community by building a robust network of stakeholders committed to improving addiction treatment through long-term collaborations and innovative projects in our state.

Working together, we can rigorously develop and test new therapeutics, tools, and approaches within diverse, community-based environments to ensure they are effective, accessible, and culturally sensitive, all through a shared commitment to helping those who are in need of help.

If you are interested in our effort to unite both academia and community to build a more cohesive and effective strategy to address addiction and its complexities, to achieve the ultimate goal of ending addiction,  please join our network by signing up in the following form.

Interested Individuals

Sign up for our newsletter to be informed and make a difference to the addiction field since every and each voice matters. Our newsletter keeps you up to date on the latest developments in our collaboration between academia and community dedicated to innovation in addiction treatment and recovery.

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Sign up for our newsletter to be informed and make a difference to the addiction field since every and each voice matters. Our newsletter keeps you up to date on the latest developments in our collaboration between academia and community dedicated to innovation in addiction treatment and recovery.

By subscribing, you'll gain access to the newest research, innovative therapies, and opportunities to get involved, whether through attending events, joining discussions, or participating in groundbreaking studies. Your voice and experience are crucial in shaping more effective, compassionate approaches to addiction care. Sign up now to be a part of a dynamic community in Minnesota working together to drive positive change and help transform the future of addiction treatment.

An Example: Co-Development of Brain Empowerment for Addiction Treatment (BEAT) Program with Recovery Communities

Brain Empowerment for Addiction Treatment (BEAT) is one of the initiatives we work on in MIREN. BEAT works to help people who have lived or living experience with substance use and their families have a better understanding about how the brain is affected by drug addiction and how they can help the brain in the process of recovery.

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In multiple joint sessions with local recovery communities, MDTA receives many questions about the brain and recovery. In a collaboration between a group of neuroscientists with multiple recovery community members, we started to develop a standalone, cartooned, neuroscience-informed psychoeducation (NIPE) package. NIPE incorporates neuroscience content, using the NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) as the basic framework. RDoC dimensions include negative valence (e.g., anxiety, trauma and loss), positive valence (e.g., reward and pleasure), cognitive systems (e.g., attention, executive control, and working memory), social processes (e.g., affiliation and community), and arousal/modulatory systems (e.g., sleep–wake). NIPE uses cartoons and affiliated text to promote insight and brain awareness and increase motivation for brain recovery. Some of the NIPE messages are organized in three posters in two different versions for male and female audiences. NIPE posters have been translated and culturally adopted by local scientific authorities in 22 languages in 5 continents so far. Addiction scientists and practitioners are welcome to send MDTA an email if they are interested in translating the posters in other languages.

NIPE materials are organized into a structured psychoeducation package for 4 sessions called “Brain Healing First Aid”. NIPE materials are also incorporated into a larger brain training/rehabilitation program for substance use disorders in 14 sessions (Neurocognitive Empowerment for Addiction Treatment (NEAT) or simply Brain Gym for Recovery).