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The center will provide scientific communication and facilitation; data integration and dissemination capabilities for new research collaborative called CONNECT
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, has been awarded a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to establish EngageData Center: Collaborative Solutions for Justice, HIV, and Overdose. The center is part of the Collaborative Network to End the HIV Epidemic and Address Addiction in the Criminal Justice System (CONNECT).
The EngageData Center will facilitate scientific coordination, data harmonization and integration, dissemination, and collaboration across the network, significantly bolstering efforts to diagnose, treat and prevent HIV among people with substance use disorders (SUD) involved in the criminal-legal system.
“This award marks a pivotal moment for RTI, bringing together our expertise in HIV science, substance use epidemiology, health economics, community engagement and communications science,” said Dr. Emmanuel Oga, a senior research epidemiologist at RTI and co-principal investigator of the EngageData Center with Dr. Jessica Cance. “Our multidisciplinary team is honored to contribute to The Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative, a bold national strategy to reduce new HIV infections by 90% by 2030.”
Under RTI’s direction, the EngageData Center will aim to enhance the impact of CONNECT by leading data harmonizing efforts and centralizing data analysis, leading community-centered dissemination and enhance the capacity of the network to conduct high-impact research.
The award builds on RTI’s role in coordinating large NIH studies, including the Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative®, an ambitious, multi-year effort to learn about the physical, mental, and societal impacts of the U.S. opioid crisis.
RTI’s role in the EngageData Center is supported by NIDA, part of the National Institutes of Health, under grant number R24DA057611-03S2. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
