Faculty from the University of Jordan (UJ) School of Pharmacy in partnership with faculty from the Yale Institute of Global Health Global Addictions Network received a two-year grant from the U.S. Department of State via the U.S. Embassy Amman Public Affairs Section to establish a joint addiction training program between Yale Schools of Medicine and Public Health and the School of Pharmacy.
International statistics show that only 1 in 10 people with substance use disorder receive treatment, indicating a substantial treatment gap globally. Primary reasons for this gap in the Middle East including Jordan as well as the United States and North African region include social and cultural stigma, lack of addiction-specific training for healthcare providers, and limited resources.
The proposed program aims to bilaterally share expertise and provide the opportunity of exchange between academic institutions, for both faculty and students, on the identification and treatment of substance use disorder while paying specific attention to cultural competency.
The principal investigators for the project are Dr. Jeanette Tetrault from the Yale Program in Addiction Medicine and Section of General Internal Medicine and Dr. Mayyada Al-Wazaify from the Department of Biopharmaceutics and Clinical Pharmacy at School of Pharmacy.
UJ's team includes Dean of the School of Pharmacy, Dr. Rana Abu-Dahab, as well as Yara Al-Khateeb, BSc (School of Pharmacy). Other team members from the U.S. include Dr. Kaveh Khoshnood (Program in Addiction Medicine, Yale School of Public Health), Dr. Ryan McNeil (Program in Addiction Medicine, Section of General Internal Medicine, Yale Schools of Medicine and Public Health), Dr. Srinivas Muvvala (Program in Addiction Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine), as well as Dr. Rebecca Minahan-Rowley, LMSW (Program in Addiction Medicine).