The Youth Advocacy and Research Collaborative focuses on improving the mental health and wellbeing of young people by addressing substance use, providing overdose prevention education, actively involving community partners, and supporting youth and their families.
Current Projects
Past Projects
The PhotoWalk Exhibit (YES Study)
This exhibit features photos and audio from a photovoice project our team hosted with youth (age 13 to 25) from MA and RI, as part of YES study activities. Through this research method, participants shared photos, stories, and perspectives on substance use, harm reduction, stigma, and mental health. Our goal is to use their insights to improve youth specific harm reduction resources.
Diamond In The Rough
"I was on my way to work, and I bumped into this man who appears to be homeless, and he was digging into the trash. But my point in taking this picture is to be able to portray the stigma that surrounds the idea of asking for help."
Finding Your Soul
"This image is the Kundalini tree. It was taken at a program for youth that believes that all people grow like a tree into being the person they're supposed to be, and some people pass away and sadly, tragically, trying to find themselves."
Doodling
"So, if you look on the right, you'll see some earbuds, uh, because I like to listen to music. And then the back is actually, uh, like, a piece of construction paper. Cuz when I'm stressed I like to doodle… I usually draw in my, like, guest room because it has, like, a TV, and I could do, like, tutorials… what I like to do is mostly just doodling and drawing characters and games."
Song of the Soul
"In this photo, it's kind of an example how sometimes when I'm stressed out about something, I decide to play music to calm me down a bit so I can go back into things more calm. That's mostly why I listen to music is background noise."
A Good Distraction
"I decided to take a picture of my favorite book… it's a series that I really like a lot. And books in general, um, I feel like helped me, um, either when I'm stressed or feel like I'm overwhelmed with emotions. Sometimes to get my mind off things, I read books to just try to get to do something, and I would say reading can be good for your hands sometimes, especially when it's a good story and it's engaging."
Getting Out of My Head
"My journal is where I go to, in terms of addressing things like shame or stigma and just more of a personal introspection kind of thing maybe journaling, Google, or reaching out to friends. So, how I intentionally move through things is kinda like journaling or talking to other people. I don't really write as often as I probably should because I have issues with internalizing things, but I think journaling is a pretty positive practice depending on how you articulate yourself."
Reliable
"So the reason I had chosen this photo was because if I were to ever use drugs and, if I want to do it safely, I want to be around a family member."
Always Watching
"I photographed a home security camera because this type of technology plays, like, a big role in increasing awareness and safety because it can monitor, like, it can monitor our surroundings, store video footage, and help us feel more secure whether we're like home or away."
Just Say No
"I picked this picture because the best way for me to stay safe from drugs is just not to use them or to just say no. That was why I picked this picture. I believe it's the best option for me, to take… Um, the photo is, like, very, like, simplistic, but it shows, like, a very big message… like, saying no to drugs."
A Safe Space for Drug Use
"This is a picture of a room at Safe consumption site, where you have that needle box, and, um, that's a basic medical facility where you can go in, and you can use those rooms. And they give you needles, they give you pipes, and they give you all of the stuff that you need, so you can use, um, safely. Um, and that's actually a way that you can use substances safely. Um, and to be safe is to use needle -- like clean needles."
Healthy Choices, Safer Future
"This picture is of our local youth organization. It's created for the teens to hang out and just be like a chill space. So, rather than, like, being outside doing drugs or anything bad, they could be there having fun, spending time with one another, and just, you know, distracting them from doing anything bad outside."
How to Access Naloxone
Naloxone (Narcan) rescue kits are available at many pharmacies and stores across Massachusetts, such as CVS, clinics, primary care, health centers, etc. Many pharmacies and stores may have naloxone on shelves or at the front counter, meaning you do not have to talk to a pharmacist.
It is available with or without a prescription, but a prescription from your doctor is NOT needed. The Department of Public Health (DPH) has issued a statewide standing order that allows anyone to request and receive a naloxone rescue kit. In addition, naloxone can also be purchased over-the-counter (OTC) at many retailers
Our Team
Sarah Bagley, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Boston University
Sarah Bagley is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Boston University School of Medicine and is board certified in Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, and Addiction Medicine. She is the founder of the CATALYST at Boston Medical Center providing integrated substance use care and primary care for youth where she sees patients. Her passion is to ensure that all youth who use substances have access to high quality, equitable care to promote their health. Her research focus is on the engagement of young adults who use drugs and their families in care to minimize risk for overdose and the complications of drug use. She has funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and PCORI to conduct research about engagement in treatment and overdose prevention of young adults after nonfatal opioid overdose and reducing stimulant related overdose
Ally Cogan, MPH
Research Project Manager
Ally Cogan is a research project manager for the YARC and the Clinical Addiction and Research Education Unit at Boston Medical Center. She assists in the management of day-to-day operations and activities on research programs focused on youth and young adult overdose prevention and harm reduction curriculum development. She received her MPH from Boston University School of Public Health, where she concentrated in community assessment, program development, implementation, and evaluation. She is passionate about the development of equitable access to tailored healthcare for underserved populations and those typically overlooked by healthcare systems, with specific passion for work with LGBTQIA+ folks. In her spare time she can be found biking, cuddling her cats, or engaging in some kind of fiber craft.
Amy Yule, MD
Vice Chair for Addiction Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry
Amy Yule, MD, is board certified in adult, child, and addiction psychiatry. She is the vice chair of addiction psychiatry at Boston Medical Center and an associate professor at the Boston University School of Medicine. Dr. Yule works with youth with substance use disorders and co-occurring psychiatric disorders as well as their family in a multidisciplinary outpatient clinic. Her research is focused on decreasing risk associated with substance use for youth, preventing substance use disorders in youth with psychiatric disorders and treatment of co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders.
Cala Renehan, MPH
Cala Renehan is a research assistant at Boston Medical Center’s Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit. Cala’s passion for harm reduction and overdose prevention stems from her time working at the Harm Reduction Action Center in Denver, CO. Her interest and commitment grew while she completed her MPH at Boston University. Cala has an enthusiasm for qualitative data and believes the best way to engage youth and young adults in harm reduction and overdose prevention is to simply talk to them and ensure they are heard. She feels privileged to carry out this work and contribute to work that ensures the safety and wellbeing of youth.
Debbie M. Cheng, ScD
Debbie M. Cheng is assistant dean of data science and the founding executive director of the Center for Health Data Science at the Boston University School of Public Health. She is a professor of biostatistics with a research focus on applied statistics and the design and analysis of clinical trials. She collaborates with investigators worldwide on multiple studies in the areas of substance abuse and HIV. She is also associate director of the Providence/Boston Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) and co-director of its Biostatistics Core, as well as director of the Biostatistics and Data Management Core for the International URBAN ARCH Center, which aims to examine the impact of alcohol on multiple aspects of the TB disease continuum. Dr. Cheng is the lead statistician for the Massachusetts site of the HEALing Communities Study, a multi-site cluster randomized trial aimed at reducing opioid-related overdose deaths in communities across four different states, the largest study of its kind in addiction science.
Jessica Calihan, MD, MSc
Jessie Calihan is a General Academic Pediatrics fellow in the Boston University Department of Pediatrics and provides primary and integrated substance use care for adolescents at Boston Medical Center. She completed the Urban Health Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency program at Johns Hopkins Hospital prior to completing fellowship training in Addiction Medicine and Adolescent Medicine at Boston Children's Hospital. Her clinical work focuses on providing high quality, accessible, and equitable care to promote youth health now and in their futures, and her research focuses on engaging families, particularly those affected by caregiver substance use, to prevent adolescent substance use and related harms.
Kimberly Nelson, PhD, MPH
Kimberly Nelson is an associate professor of community health sciences at the Boston University School of Public Health and an associate professor of Psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine. She is also faculty of the Fordham University Research Ethics Training Institute. As both a clinical psychologist and epidemiologist, Dr. Nelson focuses her research on understanding and intervening on psychological and structural determinants of health inequities with a particular focus on health inequities among marginalized adolescents and young adults. Additionally her work focuses on the ethical and legal issues involved in health research and interventions with adolescents and ways to use technology effectively and ethically for data collection and health promotion interventions.
Maurice Newman, MEd
Maurice currently serves as a Project Coordinator at the Centre for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Opioid & Overdose, serving on the YES & CUTS studies respectively at Rhode Island Hospital, a member of Brown University Health. Maurice has a strong background in harm reduction, as he served at AIDS Project Worcester in various capacties such as Housing Case Manager, Drug Checking Technician, Phlebotomist, Street Outreach, Post Overdose Support Team member, Grant Writer, and Manager of Programs & Services. Maurice is driven by his personal philosphy - helping people becoming better versions of themselves. Maurice currently holds BEd in Elementary Education, MEd in Educational Leadership & Administration, and is pursing his PhD. in Organizational Leadership.
Moriah Wiggins
Research Coordinator
Moriah is the current research coordinator for YARC and the Clinical Addiction and Research Education Unit at Boston Medical Center. She is a Boston native, and grew up in Boston’s South End neighborhood. She then attended the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where she received a Bachelor of Science in bioengineering. Upon receiving her undergraduate degree, Moriah served multiple lab roles at Foundation Medicine in Cambridge. During her time at Foundation Medicine, Moriah was also able to pursue her passions for D.E.I., health equity, and community engagement as the founding co-chair of the company’s first employee resource network for communities of color. When Moriah is not working, she wears the hat of a creative and immerses herself into Boston's thriving art communities.
Sarah Kosakowski, MPH
Associate Director of Research Operations
Sarah Kosakowski is the associate director of research operations for the YARC and the Clinical Addiction and Research Education Unit at Boston Medical Center. She oversees a large research program focused on opioid overdose prevention, behavioral interventions among people who use drugs and are at high risk of overdose, post overdose outreach, and harm reduction education development and implementation among youth and young adults. Additionally, she lead efforts within the Informatics Core on the HEALing Communities Study to integrate community engagement and data driven decision making approaches into developing and implementing evidence-based strategies to reduce opioid overdose fatalities in Massachusetts communities. Sarah received her MPH from Boston University School of Public Health, where she concentrated in health policy, law, and management, and is passionate about translating research findings and public health data to communities in usable, interactive, and digestible formats. In her spare time she likes to hike with her pup Cali, travel as much as she can, and exploring new cuisines
Traci Green, PhD, MSc
"Dr. Green is an epidemiologist whose research focuses on drug use, opioid use disorder, and drug-related injury. She earned a Master of Science in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from McGill University and a PhD in Epidemiology from Yale University. She is Professor and Director of the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative at Brandeis University where she oversees research on the drug supply, harm reduction services, and risk mitigation following law enforcement and policy actions. She also co-directs the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Opioids and Overdose at Rhode Island Hospital and is an Adjunct Professor of Emergency Medicine and Epidemiology at the Warren Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University and the Brown School of Public Health.
Dr. Green created the web app platform www.streetcheck.org to support the growth and excellence of community drug checking. She helped co-found www.prescribetoprevent.org for prescribers and pharmacists and its companion site www.prevent-protect.org for families, patients, and community organizations to improve naloxone access.
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We offer the following types of training to the community:
- Overdose prevention training for youth and adults that includes an overview of overdose risks, overdose recognition, and how to respond
- Naloxone/Narcan training
We have currently completed trainings with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Lawrence and Marlborough, Concord public school, Newton public schools, and the John D. O’Bryant School in Roxbury.
Important Hotlines
Hotlines are completely free, completely confidential, and are run 24/7. Hotlines are NOT connected to law enforcement.
Harm Reduction (Drug Testing, Narcan, Safer use supplies)
Mental Health & Emotional Support
Advocacy and legislation are crucial for improved youth health outcomes because they work together to create a safer, healthier world for young people. On this page you will find current and upcoming Massachusetts and federal legislation and advocacy work that our team is connected to or would like to support.
Legislation
Important bills that have passed or are in progress
Advocacy Efforts
Local and national efforts members of our team have participated in.