Understanding Rising Overdose Mortality in Individuals with Low Socioeconomic Status

About This Grant

ABSTRACT This K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award will support Dr. J. Travis Donahoe, a health economist and Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, in becoming an independent investigator whose research advances science about how to reduce substance use-related harm through policies and interventions. The proposed research will apply multiple methods and has three aims: (1) use linked survey and vital records data to overcome key limitations of prior research and identify individual- and neighborhood-level factors that are shaping the fentanyl epidemic; (2) apply quasi-experimental methods to evaluate the effectiveness of demand- and supply-side policies in reducing overdose deaths among high- risk populations; and (3) apply human centered design methods to partner with community experts in two high- risk counties in Pennsylvania and West Virginia—states disproportionately impacted by the opioid epidemic and where Dr. Donahoe’s team has longstanding connections—to co-develop targeted interventions. Complementing his background in economics and quantitative methods, Dr. Donahoe’s career development plan centers on training in social and policy drivers of opioid mortality, population health data and methods, and qualitative and community-engaged intervention development methods. His multidisciplinary mentorship team includes experts in health care delivery for low-income populations (co-primary mentor Dr. Julie Donohue), social epidemiology (co-primary mentor Dr. Christina Mair), qualitative and community-engaged intervention development (co-mentor Dr. Jessica Burke), social demography (co-mentor Dr. Mark Hayward), and population health (co-mentor Dr. David Cutler). Through didactic coursework, guided readings, workshops, conferences, and an apprenticeship, Dr. Donahoe will acquire the interdisciplinary expertise needed to integrate diverse methodological approaches and advance research about how to address both supply- and demand-side drivers of opioid mortality through policies and interventions. Ultimately, this award will position Dr. Donahoe to secure R01 funding to implement and rigorously evaluate novel, data-driven strategies to combat the opioid crisis. By illuminating how supply, social, economic, and policy forces converge to drive overdose risk—and by developing targeted, community-informed solutions— this K01 and the R01 proposals it facilitates will advance the science necessary to reduce opioid-related morbidity and mortality in high-risk American communities.