Examining Transitions from Injecting to Smoking Fentanyl and Methamphetamine and its Implications for Harm Reduction Services in the San Diego-Tijuana Border Region

Will Eger, MPH • PhD Candidate in Interdisciplinary Research on Substance Use • UC San Diego School of Medicine
 

How people use drugs—and how they access supplies that modify the potential harms of using drugs—is a hot topic these days.  That’s one reason why we are super excited to welcome Will Eger to talk about his research on injecting-to-smoking transitions at next month’s Drug Use Research Group (DURG) meeting.  Hope you can join us!
 
The body of work covered in Will’s presentation will investigate how and why many people who inject drugs in the San Diego-Tijuana border region have shifted toward smoking fentanyl and methamphetamine over the past five years. It uses person-centered quantitative analyses (i.e., latent transition analysis) and in-depth qualitative interviews to explore patterns of fentanyl-stimulant polydrug use and the factors shaping these transitions.  Will also will share preliminary findings from interviews with people who use drugs and professional key informants on access to, and implementation of, interventions to address unregulated smoking drug use. This work aims to inform efforts to strengthen prevention services that reduce the high burden of infectious disease and overdose among people who use drugs.
 
William H. Eger, MPH, is a PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Research on Substance Use in the Department of Medicine at UC San Diego and the School of Social Work at San Diego State University. He received his BA in Public Health and Spanish from Hartwick College and MPH in Infectious Disease Epidemiology from the Yale School of Public Health. His research focuses on the implementation of novel interventions for the prevention and treatment of comorbid conditions among people who use drugs in community-based settings. He is currently the PI of a NIDA-funded R36 dissertation award focused on the implementation of harm reduction interventions to address unregulated smoking drug use.

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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.