Doctoral Student Lemere Selected as JCOIN Scholar

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Susan Lemere, a doctoral student in the department of health promotion and policy, has been selected for the Justice Community Opioid Intervention Network (JCOIN) Scholar Program. The yearlong research education program is intended to support academics, clinicians, criminologists and community stakeholders on research in justice settings.

“I am really excited to be included in this program,” says Lemere. “Having worked as a social worker in corrections settings, I'm aware that there is tremendous need for mental health and addiction treatment to be much more available to and appropriate for justice-involved individuals. This collaboration between JCOIN and NIH is one effort to address that gap, and as a researcher-clinician, I am excited to be included.”

JCOIN is an ambitious, $155 million initiative by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) to improve opioid addiction treatment in criminal justice settings. Comprised of researchers from over a dozen institutions nationwide, network researchers are examining the impact of evidence-based medications for opioid use disorder, behavioral interventions, digital therapeutics and patient-centered treatments in 15 states and Puerto Rico. Their research focuses on a range of justice settings, including jails, drug and problem-solving courts, policing and diversion, and probation and parole.

Lemere has been conducting her doctoral research under the supervision of assistant professor Elizabeth Evans, who is the co-principal investigator on a $10 million JCOIN research project examining a pilot opioid treatment program for jail detainees in seven Massachusetts counties.

“I’m so pleased that Susan was selected for this opportunity,” says Evans. “She has the knowledge and skills to conduct rigorous research in collaboration with community partners. Moreover, Susan’s scholarly accomplishments, in combination with her real-world experiences, mean that she is especially well-suited to lead research that will improve healthcare practice and policy.”

JCOIN Scholars will examine the conduct of research in justice settings, focusing on formulating research questions, understanding elements of research design, ethical issues concerning research in justice settings, and collaborator roles to ground and translate the conduct of research in justice settings. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in research knowledge and skill workshops, networking and mentoring, and they will be encouraged to develop a research talk or poster for presentation at a peer-reviewed research conference. The scholars will receive funding to support attendance at research meetings as well as the Academic and Health Policy Conference on Correctional Health.

The program is part of a greater effort to support research education and capacity building via the JCOIN Coordination and Translation Center. The Center aims to advance the capacity and diversity of high impact research for populations involved with the health and criminal justice systems.