Paper from Young Pharmacy Researchers Honored

A paper from a team of University of Michigan pharmacy residents, students and faculty won the Editor’s Choice Award from the journal Pharmacotherapy.

Lauren Spreen (PGY1 2022), Emma Dittmar (PharmD 2023), Kyle Quirk (PharmD, PGY1, PGY2) and Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy Michael Smith analyzed standard and emerging strategies for initiating use of buprenorphine to treat opioid use disorder management and for pain management. They published their findings in Pharmacotherapy in March 2022.

The paper was selected for recognition by the journal’s editor-in-chief, with the support of its the scientific editors and the members of the Board of Directors of Pharmacotherapy Publications, Inc., the publication arm of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.

Current practice guidelines recommend a period of mild-to-moderate withdrawal from opioids before transitioning to buprenorphine. However, this strategy can lead to negative physical and psychological symptoms for patients.

Novel initiation strategies suggest that administering small doses of buprenorphine along with opioids can avoid the unwanted withdrawal associated with buprenorphine initiation. The authors collected and analyzed data from available studies to compare different approaches to initiating the treatment.

Their paper will be recognized at the 2023 ACCP Annual Meeting this November. 

Congratulations to the authors for this exemplary work.