Welcome

We are a CCTS Core Resource dedicated to providing clinicians and scientists with the resources they need to effectively understand and combat the opioid crisis.

About Us

The Non-Medical Opioid Use (NMOU) Resource Center is a CCTS core resource dedicated to providing clinicians and scientists with the resources they need to effectively understand and combat the opioid crisis. The NMOU Resource Center is directed by Eduardo Bruera, MD, FAAHPM, Chair of Palliative, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and a leader in NMOU research. Guidance is also provided by the NMOU Resource Center Advisory Board that consists of a multidisciplinary team of NMOU researchers.

The Opioid Crisis

In recent years, the current opioid crisis has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, with multiple mechanisms contributing to the current levels of opioid-related addiction, illness, and death. A major issue associated with the opioid crisis is non-medical opioid use (NMOU), a term that applies to any use or misuse of opioids outside of safe, medical guidelines, including substance use disorder. We have described the scope of this problem in prior publications, including the three listed below.

Arthur A, Bruera E. Balancing opioid analgesia with the risk of nonmedical opioid use in patients with cancer. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2019;16(4):213-226.

Jones GH, Bruera E, Abdi S, Kantarjian HM. The opioid epidemic in the United States-Overview, origins, and potential solutions. Cancer. 2018;124(22):4279-4286

Bruera E. Parenteral opioid shortage – treating pain during the opioid-overdose epidemic. NEJM. 2018;379(7):601-603.

Resources

Available Resources

The purpose of this website is to help and guide investigators interested in conducting NMOU-related research. The resources provided to members can be used to help design research studies and/or clinical program implementation.

Member resources will include access to the following:

• Instrument library with tools used for NMOU research studies and clinical assessments, along with a library of publications that have successfully used the tools. Access here.
• Access to Zoom coaching/telementoring sessions to discuss study design, study procedures, protocol preparation, best practices for NMOU research, and other community learning needs
• Access to the Opioid Research Manual that describes best practices for NMOU-related research and provides a guide for investigators to determine what questions are of interest to them and their team
• Access to the NMOU Research Database that contains data from NMOU-related studies conducted by other CCTS investigators across the state of Texas and beyond

Contact Us

The CCTS NMOU Core Resource is located in the Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation & Integrative Medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX.

For questions or concerns please complete the Contact Us Form.

Address:

CCTS NMOU Core
Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation, and Integrative Medicine
1515 Holcombe Blvd Unit 1414
Houston, TX, 77030