Overdose from Unintentional Fentanyl Use in San Francisco: Prevalence, Pathways, and Prevention for People Who Use Stimulants and Avoid Opioids

Alexander Bazazi, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences/Zuckerberg San Francisco General

Bryson Gomez
Medical Student
UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program

Welcome back for another serving of the DURG! This month, Alex Bazazi and Bryson Gomez will share their results from a mixed-methods investigation of unintentional fentanyl use in San Francisco. Their research includes an analysis of paramedic records from a post-overdose response team and qualitative interviews with people who use stimulants and who experienced an overdose from unintentional fentanyl use.

Alex Bazazi, MD, PhD (he/him) is an assistant professor in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center and a research scientist at the Center on Substance Use & Health at the San Francisco Department of Public Health. As a psychiatrist and epidemiologist, he focuses on overdose prevention in San Francisco.
 
Bryson Gomez (he/him) is a medical student in the UC Berkeley-UCSF Joint Medical Program. His master’s thesis focuses on mechanisms of unintentional fentanyl use among people who use stimulants in San Francisco.

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.