Ladd Part of IU Study on Opioid Use Disorder

Professor of Psychology Kevin Ladd. Indiana University South Bend Professor of Psychology Kevin Ladd is one of four Indiana University faculty members who received an $800,000 grant to study opioid use disorder (OUD). The grant is part of IU’s Grand Challenges Initiative that is focusing on some of largest and most pressing problems in Indiana, including combating the addictions crisis.

Dr. Ladd joins researchers from IUPUI and IU Southeast in a project called Characterizing the Course of Long-Term Opioid Use Disorder Recovery and the Impact of Medication-Assisted Treatment on Opioid Use Disorder Recovery.

OUD is a life-long disorder but most research and treatment use short-term approaches and follow-up. Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) is successful for short-term recovery from OUD, which has improved survival rates. This has resulted in a critical need to know how best to support individuals in long-term OUD recovery. The goals of this project are to establish normative data on long-term recovery OUD across patients, community support organizations, and providers and to quantify the impact of MAT on long-term recovery from OUD. Meeting these goals will reduce the incidence of OUD overdose.

Associate Professors of Psychology Melissa Cyders and Wu Wei of the Purdue School of Science at IUPUI and Assistant Professor of Sociology Melissa Fry at IU Southeast, along with Ladd, received the grant and have begun their research across their campuses and communities.