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Leslie Suen, MD, MAS

@suenlw.bsky.social
555 followers 69 following 29 posts

Addiction medicine & primary care physician, implementation scientist & health services researcher interested in harm reduction & drug policy @UCSF. Opinions my own.

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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Paul Christine @pauljchristine.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
Public health efforts are rightly focused on reducing opioid overdose deaths. We know relatively little about severe morbidity among overdose survivors. Our new paper in @journalgim.bsky.social provides the first national estimates of overdose-related hypoxic-ischemic brain injury rdcu.be/ezNUN
rdcu.be
National Estimates of Opioid Overdose Hospitalizations Resulting in Hypoxic-ischemic Brain Injury
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Kate Roberts PhD, MDiv, LCSW @katelcsw.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
See @suenlw.bsky.social, Rachel Luba, and my Op Ed in @statnews.com on the impact of #climatechange on #methadone and the importance of modernizing the OTP system. www.statnews.com/2025/07/23/m...
statnews.com
Climate disasters create life-threatening disruptions for people on methadone
The U.S.’s reliance on methadone clinics is not just an inconvenience — it is anathema to a world grappling with escalating climate disasters.
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Leslie Suen, MD, MAS @suenlw.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
People often ask me--what the hell does a SOTA do? A lot actually, especially when it comes to deciding state treatment programs for opioid use disorder! Come to this webinar and learn all you ever wanted to know about SOTAs
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
AMERSA @amersa.org · 26/04/2025
Congratulations to the AMERSA 2024 Best Workshop Award winner! This award, based on participant reviews, is presented each year to an outstanding workshop delivered at the annual conference. @ayeshaappamd.bsky.social @kinnathakarar.bsky.social @madelinemc5.bsky.social @katelcsw.bsky.social
Graphic of workshop facilitators for Bugs, Drugs, and Harm Reduction: Skills for Optimizing Antibiotic Therapy in People Who Use Drugs
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Leslie Suen, MD, MAS @suenlw.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Sad to be missing #ASAM but I was shocked to see our paper on low dose buprenorphine initiations named as one of the most impactful papers of the year! It’s an honor and I’m grateful to our amazing team that made this happen 🤩
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 08/02/2025
1. Today the NIH director issued a new directive slashing overhead rates to 15%. I want to provide some context on what that means and why it matters. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...
grants.nih.gov
NOT-OD-25-068: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates
NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates NOT-OD-25-068. OD
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Lev Facher @levfacher.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
RFK says he supports methadone and buprenorphine — but majorly misrepresents a study that he claimed shows 12-step programs are more effective vs. opioid addiction (The study was exclusively about alcohol!) www.statnews.com/2025/01/30/r...
statnews.com
RFK Jr. endorses medications for opioid addiction at confirmation hearing, but misleads on 12-step programs
During his Thursday Senate confirmation hearing, RFK Jr. shed light for the first time on his attitudes toward medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction.
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
j m gabriel, a circus of faults and vices @jmgabriel.bsky.social · 01/02/2025
Everyone concerned about data loss right now should learn about the End of Term Web Archive, which I believe has been working on preserving federal websites for the past 8 months. The dataset you fear has been lost may well be here Just an incredible project. Thank you to everyone involved
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Cynthia Cox @cynthiaccox.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) -- which, since 1990, has tracked high school students' behaviors that can influence health and social outcomes (like smoking, drug use, and dietary habits) -- is now offline
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
csuhsfdph.bsky.social @csuhsfdph.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
During the pandemic, doctors tried microdosing buprenorphine to help fentanyl users avoid withdrawal and start treatment. A UC San Francisco study found this low-dose approach worked only 34% of the time, with most patients unable to reach a full dose despite gradual increases over several days.
jamanetwork.com
Outpatient Low-Dose Initiation of Buprenorphine for People Using Fentanyl
This cohort study assesses rates of successful buprenorphine initiation and retention among adults who use fentanyl receiving a low-dose buprenorphine initiation protocol in the outpatient setting to ...
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Leslie Suen, MD, MAS @suenlw.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Excited to share findings from our recent study on #opioiduse disorder (#OUD) treatment! We looked at two buprenorphine low-dose initiation (LDI) protocols for people using fentanyl. 🧵👇 jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
jamanetwork.com
Outpatient Low-Dose Initiation of Buprenorphine for People Using Fentanyl
This cohort study assesses rates of successful buprenorphine initiation and retention among adults who use fentanyl receiving a low-dose buprenorphine initiation protocol in the outpatient setting to ...
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Roxana Daneshjou, MD, PhD @roxanadaneshjou.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
It’s time scientists leave the ivory tower and explain exactly why their research is important for the general public. We need people to understand the societal implications if science is gutted.
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Roxana Daneshjou, MD, PhD @roxanadaneshjou.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
The NIH diversity supplement pages have all been pulled down. What is a diversity supplement and why should the public care? A diversity supplement is funding to help diversify the research workforce. You may be wondering, “so what?”. Let me explain. www.nigms.nih.gov/Pages/PageNo...
nigms.nih.gov
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
NIGMS supports basic research to understand biological processes and lay the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Esther Chung @estherchung.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
Our new study found 44% of syringe services programs (SSPs) distributed safer smoking supplies in 2022. SSPs distributing supplies had more participant encounters and naloxone distribution. Safer smoking supplies are a key tool to connect people who use drugs to life-saving services.
sciencedirect.com
Association of safer smoking supply distribution with participant encounters and naloxone distribution from syringe services programs: Findings from the National Survey of Syringe Services Programs in...
In response to the recent and growing shift from injecting heroin to smoking fentanyl, an increasing number of syringe services programs (SSPs) in the…
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Leslie Suen, MD, MAS @suenlw.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Lots of stuff happening in the news that is scary. But I would be remiss if I didn't share this piece just published today in collaboration with an all star team of Corey Davis, Derek Carr, Kate Bouton and Phillip Coffin. journals.lww.com/journaladdic...
journals.lww.com
Prescribing Psychostimulants for the Treatment of Stimulant ... : Journal of Addiction Medicine
t controlled prescription psychostimulants such as dextroamphetamine, methylphenidate, and modafinil are associated with reductions in self-reported stimulant use, craving, and depressive symptoms. De...
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Sam Wang @samwang.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
NIH funding supports the vast majority of all biomedical research in the United States. Virtually every advance in American medicine and biological science comes from NIH. This is a blow against American science. Call Congress, 202-224-3121.
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Have you or a loved one been treated for cancer? Ever have a vaccine? Had someone you love revived by chest compressions? If so, then you have benefited from NIH-funded research, which has just been effectively shut down by the cancellation of NIH study sections. No new research allowed.
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Nsikan Akpan @monscience.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
NIH appears to have canceled/postponed all of its study sections—the independent review panels that approve federal grants for health research. Such grants fund the work/salaries of 300k people at more than 2,500 institutions
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Amy Feldman @amyfeldman7.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
If you’ve been directly impacted by a pause or cancellation of an NIH study session, we @forbes.com would like to talk to you
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Leslie Suen, MD, MAS @suenlw.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Check out this new paper on the use of Short Acting Full Agonist Opioid (SAFAO) to treat opioid withdrawal in the hospital, led by incredibly talented and self-motivated @ucsfhealth.bsky.social MS4 #GabySteiner 🧵 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Treatment of Inpatient Opioid Withdrawal with Short-Acting Full Agonist Opioids at a Safety-Net Hospital - Journal of General Internal Medicine
Background Fentanyl use leads to increased opioid tolerance in people with opioid use disorder, complicating management of opioid withdrawal syndrome. While accepted as gold standard, methadone and bu...
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
AMERSA @amersa.org · 15/01/2025
Help us advance AMERSA's advocacy goals in 2025! The AMERSA Advocacy Committee is seeking an AMERSA member to join the 9-person core working group of the Committee. Learn more here: amersa.org/amersa-advoc.... The deadline to apply is January 20.
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Dr. Rishi Wadhera, MD MPP MPhil @rkwadhera.bsky.social · 09/01/2025
The rapid growth of private equity in health care has attracted widespread attention & concern Our new @jama.com study finds that when private equity takes over a hospital, patients' care experience significantly worsens. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Lev Facher @levfacher.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
A Rhode Island nonprofit will hold a ribbon-cutting for its supervised consumption site next week, marking the first time the controversial harm-reduction service has been offered (officially, anyway) outside New York City www.statnews.com/2024/12/06/o...
statnews.com
Rhode Island set to open first supervised consumption site for illicit drugs outside NYC
A Rhode Island nonprofit is set to open a government-sanctioned site for illicit drug use this week, making it just the second organization in the U.S. to
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Bradley Stein @bradleydstein.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
1/ Excited to share recent paper, "Examining the Impact of Eliminating the X Waiver on Buprenorphine Dispensation in 63 Counties in Pennsylvania," in @sajamersa.bsky.social led by @beccabilden.bsky.social
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AMERSA @amersa.org · 19/12/2024
Did you know that AMERSA hosts events like free advocacy-themed webinars and advocacy ‘office hours’ that may be able to help you advance your advocacy priorities in 2025? Look out for announcements and join our listserv to stay apprised of upcoming AMERSA advocacy events. amersa.org/amersa-advoc...
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
JAMA @jama.com · 18/12/2024
Viewpoint examines recent US #methadone policy advances, including the 72-hour rule and Modernizing Opioid Treatment Access Act. ja.ma/3DazMaf
Web preview JAMA.com.
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Kate Roberts PhD, MDiv, LCSW @katelcsw.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Grateful for this conversation led by Tracie Gardner, ED of NBHRN on the history of methadone among Black and Brown communities and the deadly disparities that continue to exist for methadone access. Thank you @nastad.bsky.social for hosting! @frank213.bsky.social @liberatemethadone.bsky.social
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liberatemethadone.bsky.social @liberatemethadone.bsky.social · 27/11/2024
💥Register NOW💥 Liberating Methadone: What This Means, and Why It's Important us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi... **hosted by the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region**
Image is of a flyer promoting a webinar on "Liberating Methadone: What This Means and Why It's Important". The flyer has a pale pink background with multiple colored circles. This webinar features panelists; Caty Simon - National Survivors Union, Jordan Scott - Pennsylvania Harm Reduction Network, and Dr. Noa Krawczyk - Grossman School of Medicine, NYU. The webinar is being held via Zoom on December 5th at 2:00 PM EST.
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
liberatemethadone.bsky.social @liberatemethadone.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Are you tired of the status quo and ready to disrupt the system? Hit that follow button and join us in the fight to #LiberateMethadone, and #CancelCrueltyCulture. Check us out at www.liberatemethadone.org
Image is a flyer with a white background that has cartoon clouds as a border. There is red text in the middle that reads "Are you a person with lived and living experience on Methadone? Do you want to be a part of liberating methadone?" with a black & white graphic underneath that reads "join us" is bold bubble letters. Below that is a QR code and a link to www.liberatemethadone.org.
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Reposted by Leslie Suen, MD, MAS
Substance Use & Addiction Journal (SAj) @sajamersa.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Congrats to @suenlw.bsky.social & team (& @amersa.org Board Members!) for receiving the 2024 SAj Most Downloaded Paper Award: " #Methadone Resurgence in Bridging the Treatment Gap in the #Overdose Crisis: Position Statement of #AMERSA, Inc).Science into advocacy! journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
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Natalie (prev “NanouTheNomad”) @drnataliestahl.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
Was so much fun meeting up with #LiberateMethadone buddies at @amersa.org conference! #AMERSA24
15 people crowded around a table at a restaurant
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