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Emergency Medicine ResearchUniversity of Virginia

Emergency Medicine ResearchUniversity of Virginia

Toxicology & addiction

Poisonings, overdoses and treatment that starts in the ED.

What we ask

Spotting new threats early

NowReports from emergency visitsFlaggedObvious to the eyeEarlier warning

Treatment that starts in the ED

IllustrationToxicosurveillance looks for a new threat in routine reports before it becomes obvious.

The problem

The problem

The emergency department is often the first, and sometimes the only, contact people with substance use disorders have with care. This work studies the opioid epidemic, toxicosurveillance and treatment that can start in the ED.

A clinician holding out a naloxone nasal spray, ringed in orange, to a patient in a curtained bay

Focus areas

What this work wants to know

  1. What do emergency visits reveal about the course of the opioid epidemic?

  2. How can toxicosurveillance spot new threats early?

  3. Which treatments started in the ED keep patients engaged in care?

People

Who works on this

Faculty whose research connects to this area.

Meet everyone

  • Rita Farah, PhD, MPH, PharmD

    Assistant Professor & Lead Epidemiologist

    Research interests: Epidemiology · Opioid Epidemic · Substance Use · Toxicosurveillance

    Her research focuses on the U.S. opioid epidemic, substance use and toxicosurveillance using national poison center data.

Get involved

Work with this team

Bring a question, a technology to test, or yourself as a participant.

  • Contact the team

    Questions about this research, the people behind it, or working together.

  • Train with us

    Postdocs, PhD students, fellows and research-minded residents: how to join this work.

  • Interested in partnering on this work?

    Cavalier Catalyst connects industry with emergency physicians, engineers and data scientists.

  • Join a study

    What research in the emergency department involves, how consent works, and who to ask.