High Stakes, Low Doses: Mixed Methods Evaluation of Low-Dose Buprenorphine Induction Among People Using Fentanyl in San Francisco

Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of Internal Medicine
UCSF School of Medicine/Zuckerberg San Francisco General

Welcome back to another year of the UCSF Drug Use Research Group (DURG).  Please join us this month for a presentation by Dr. Leslie Suen, who will present findings from her NIH K12 award using mixed methods to evaluate low-dose buprenorphine inductions among people using fentanyl in San Francisco.  Leslie will first present comparative outcomes data from 126 patients spanning 175 low-dose induction attempts from the Outpatient Buprenorphine Induction Clinic (OBIC) and Family Health Center’s Bridge Clinic from May 2021-November 2022.  She will then present qualitative interview data from 19 clinicians and 19 patients on their experiences with low-dose induction, revealing facilitators, barriers, and future opportunities for care improvement.

Leslie is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the UCSF Division of General Internal Medicine at San Francisco General Hospital, where she works as a primary care and addiction medicine physician and health services researcher. Her research focuses on using implementation science to improve health systems, policies, and outcomes for people with substance use disorders. She is particularly interested in evaluating ways to improve uptake of opioid use disorder treatment, particularly in improving regulatory policies and studying novel methods of buprenorphine and methadone induction. 

The UCSF Drug Use Research Group (DURG) is a city-wide seminar attended by faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and other Bay Area investigators centering on persons who use drugs.  Started in 2005 after a friendly debate between an epidemiologist and anthropologist on the merits of quantitative versus qualitative research methods, the DURG monthly seminars provide a community platform for new and established investigators to present their work, explore research questions and methods, and to prepare for grant applications and the dissemination of findings in a supportive environment.  The seminar has been successful in cultivating new collaborations and mentorship and in sustaining an interdisciplinary and interprofessional dialogue between those engaged in basic sciences, epidemiology, clinical, and public health research.  

We have returned to in-person meetings.  Our meetings are not recorded.  Please contact us if you’d like to present your work or research ideas for friendly consultation and peer review.