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The Florida Department of Health in Orange County is honored to have been selected as the only county health department in the nation to participate in the CHOICES 2 study.

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This three-year research study will compare the effectiveness of HIV clinic-based extended-release naltrexone (XR-NTX) in decreasing substance use and increasing HIV viral suppression in HIV-infected participants with opioid use disorder.

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Funded by a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) research grant to the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, DOH-Orange's Sunshine Care Center (SCC) is a participating site in this clinical trial collaboration with the Florida Node Alliance of the NIDA Clinical Trails Network (CTN), based at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The SCC offers a National Institutes of Health approved clinical research site with a decade of experience in the care of low-income and high-risk populations.

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"This NIDA-supported study is our first partnership with Oregon Health & Science University (Western States Node of the NIDA CTN) and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (Florida Node Alliance of the NIDA CTN)," said Dr. Kevin Sherin, DOH-Orange Health Officer. "Medication assisted treatment (MAT) is an evidence-based approach to the opioid overdose epidemic in Central Florida, which is critical to successful treatment outcomes. This study will enable research teams to also learn the effects of MAT on HIV treatment outcomes."

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Currently, DOH-Orange is looking for men and women, age 18 and older, who are HIV-positive and use opioids to participate in this treatment study. For more information, please call 407-868-4687 or 407-625-1196. The study involves monthly study visits and visits to an HIV care provider over the course of 6-7 months.