Substance Abuse Research Program (SARP)

US News Best Graduate Programs 2018

How can we best treat the problems of substance abuse? How do we evaluate the effectiveness of drug treatment services? How should a public health system organize its treatment and prevention services for addiction? How can substance abuse problems be treated in concert with the many medical problems that are encountered in a public hospital?

The UCSF Department of Psychiatry at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center has an array of nationally prominent research projects addressing problems such problems. Under the rubric of “treatment and services research,” our faculty and students are addressing a range of issues, clinical trials of a variety of behavioral and structural interventions to the use of digital health to increase awareness of substance use-related health issues. Overall, this research seeks to make substantial improvements in the effectiveness of care and service expansion for people with substance use disorders and other co-occurring conditions. Treatment settings include stand-alone addiction clinics, HIV and hepatitis programs, emergency rooms, residential treatment communities, and mental health settings. Current studies also assess digital health interventions and infectious disease testing and prevention in underserved populations.

We are invested in the development of early career researchers in substance use and promoting researcher diversity in the addiction research field, hosting the NIDA-funded T32 Postdoctoral Training Program in Substance Use Disorders Treatment and Services Research and the NIDA-funded R25 Learning for Early Careers in Addiction and Diversity (LEAD) Program. We are also affiliated with the UCSF Department of Psychiatry Clinical Psychology Training Program (CPTP).

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