ASPPH is pleased to welcome the inaugural cohort of students participating in the ASPPH/ONDCP Applied Practice Experience (APE) Program, a new initiative that provides applied, practice-based learning opportunities for graduate students interested in drug policy and substance use research. Through preceptor-guided projects, students will apply their academic training to analyze data and explore emerging issues related to illicit drug use, overdose, and the evolving drug supply.

Participants will receive academic credit through their home institutions, allowing the experience to count toward practicum requirements needed to complete their degree programs. Students will work on applied research projects examining several key drug policy and public health topics, including:

• Assessing concordance between expected and detected substance
• Using drug checking service data to understand discrepancies between what individuals believe they are consuming and what is actually present
• Estimating the number of individuals experiencing multiple nonfatal overdoses treated in emergency departments using longitudinal electronic health record data
• Assessing the effects of law enforcement operations at the Southern Border on drug-related health outcomes, including relationships between drug seizures and overdose trends along trafficking routes
• Comparing illicit drug concentrations in wastewater with drug-related health outcomes and drug supply indicators

Through these projects, students will produce final reports in the format of peer-reviewed journal articles, contributing research that informs national drug policy and public health practice.

ASPPH thanks the Office of National Drug Control Policy for its partnership in supporting this applied training opportunity. Learn more about applied learning and training programs offered through the ASPPH Center for Public Health Workforce Development.