Grand Rounds Presentations

Alice Zhang, MD, MPH | January 6, 2026 : Harm reduction-focused vending machines, delivering naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and other public health items, represent a potential non-stigmatizing, low-barrier approach to harm reduction that may increase access and engagement with underserved populations, reduce overdoses and related public health conditions, and health disparities in substance use disorder.…

Wayne Kepner, PhD, MPH | November 18 2025 : A significant barrier to addressing the opioid crisis is the “false dichotomy” between two of our most effective strategies; medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) and 12-step mutual help groups (MHG). MOUD is the most effective pharmacological treatment to reduce mortality, while MHGs provide invaluable access…

Niranjan S. Karnik, M.D., Ph.D. | November 4, 2025 : Translating data science innovations into real-world clinical impact remains a critical challenge in healthcare. This talk presents the story of C-DOSETaP (Chicago Data-Driven OUD Screening, Engagement, Treatment and Prevention) project, a NIDA-funded initiative under the Helping to End Addiction Long-term Data to Action (HD2A) program.…

Hannah Cheng, MS and Todd Wagner, PhD | October 21, 2025 : This presentation highlights practical and innovative approaches to economic evaluations in implementation endeavors. Part I provides an overview of Delivering Implementation Strategies Cost (DISCo), a pragmatic micro-costing tool that separates delivery and participation costs while outlining practical considerations for measuring implementation costs. Part…

Sandra Japuntich, PhD | October 28, 2025 : Hybrid implementation-effectiveness trials hold tremendous promise to speed implementation by collecting data necessary for implementation whilst conducting effectiveness data. This presentation will review hybrid clinical trial design and present outcomes from two hybrid implementation-effectiveness trials of smoking cessation treatments. Insights and experiences will be shared about the…

Allison Carroll, PhD, Meredith Boyd, PhD, Emily Fu, PhD, MPH | October 14 2025 : The Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) is an evidence-based intervention to treat mild to moderate mental health conditions in primary care settings. Although the effectiveness of CoCM has been extensively researched, less is known about the strategies needed to successfully implement…

Rachel Kornfield, PhD | September 30, 2025 : Text messaging is a uniquely accessible way to deliver digital health interventions, offering high levels of reach and usability relative to most apps. When paired with cutting-edge machine learning techniques, text messaging can also be adaptive and highly personalized. In this talk, Dr. Kornfield will describe how…

Alex Sox-Harris, PhD, Kenneth Nieser, PhD | September 23, 2025 : Measures of organizational characteristics, such as implementation climate, organizational climate, and organizational culture play diverse roles in implementation studies. These characteristics can be conceptualized as contextual determinants of quality, moderators or mediators of implementation strategy effectiveness, or even implementation outcomes. It is therefore essential…

Patricia Lee King, PhD, MSW | September 16, 2025 : Mental health conditions, including substance use disorders, are a leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths. One in five mothers experience depression or anxiety during pregnancy or postpartum and less than 10% receive adequate treatment. The Illinois Perinatal Quality Collaborative (ILPQC) facilitates collaborative learning opportunities, rapid-response data…

Julia Moore, PhD | September 9, 2025: This workshop introduces the principles of implementation science and explores how they can help to plan, execute, and sustain change initiatives. Participants will learn practical approaches to bridge the gap between research and practice, overcome common barriers to change, and apply evidence-informed approaches to change initiatives.