The University of Maryland School of Medicine is getting nearly $30 million from the National Institutes of Health to research infectious diseases affecting people who use injectable drugs.

The studies will focus on identifying the best ways to prevent re-hospitalizations for infections diseases related to IV drug use. Interventions will include tactics like improving access to primary care, bettering care coordination and providing easier access to medications that address opioid use disorder.

“We are really trying to figure out how do we best care for people as they transition from the hospital to places out of the hospital to prevent them from coming back with another infectious complication,” said Sarah Kattakuzhy, an associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “Is there a way that from a systems perspective, we can reduce both cost while at the same time helping improve outcomes for the lives of individual patients with substance use?”

The grant will span over four years and partner with Emory University, West Virginia University and George Washington University.

Since the opioid crisis started in the late 1990s, blood and heart infections through intravenous drug use have been on the rise.

“Hepatitis C is the most common infectious trend-admission related disease that people who use substances have,” Kattakuzhy said. “If you look over the last 10 years, there's been a quadrupling of the rate of hepatitis C amongst people who use drugs.”

Heart infections, due to the use of contaminated drug paraphernalia, also quadrupled from 1002 to 2016.

Kattakuzhy said the studies could seriously help improve the care and health of people who use drugs.

“The impact of this investment really cannot be underestimated,” she said. “It's such a humbling opportunity to really change the science of how we care for people with substance use disorder. It's an honor that we take really, really seriously.”