Socially-supportive norms and mutual aid of people who use opioids: An analysis of Reddit during the initial COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Big events (i.e., unique historical disruptions) like the COVID-19 epidemic and its associated period of social distancing can transform social structures, social interactions, and social norms.

"How will I get my next week's script?" Reactions of Reddit opioid forum users to changes in treatment access in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic poses significant challenges to people with opioid use disorder (OUD). As localities enforce lockdowns and pass emergency OUD treatment regulations, questions arise about how these changes will affect access and retention in care. In this study, we explore the influence of COVID-19 on access to, experiences with, and motivations for OUD treatment through a qualitative analysis of public discussion forums on Reddit.

Student-led research team-building program may help junior faculty increase productivity in competitive biomedical research environment.

Background: Interdisciplinary research teams can increase productivity among academic researchers, yet many junior investigators do not have the training or financial resources to build productive teams. We developed and tested the acceptability and feasibility of three low-cost services to help junior faculty build and maintain their own research teams.

Methods: At an urban academic medical centre, we implemented three types of consultation services: 1) giving talks on evidence-based best practices for building teams; 2) providing easy-to-use team building resources via email; and 3) offering a year-long consultation service-co-led by students-that taught faculty to build and maintain research teams.

Opioid Abuse Prevention and Treatment: Lessons From South Carolina.

Context: Opioid-related overdoses in the United States have increased by 33% over the past 5 years. America's opioid crisis is increasing across demographic groups and spreading geographically. South Carolina is one of the states in the southern region of the United States that experiences an unusually high rate of opioid-related deaths.