ISAM Global Experts Network (ISAM GEN): Expert Elicitation with Addiction Medicine Professionals
ISAM Global Expert Network (ISAM-GEN) is the latest product of the ISAM which has aimed to extend the borders of addiction medicine through connecting experts around the world within an international network for expert elicitation. The foundations of ISAM-GEN go back to the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 where its initial international survey was conducted as a rapid response to collect reliable information from experts on how the field is responding to the situation. Afterwards, ISAM-GEM aimed to build on this endeavor and develop a global expert infrastructure based around ISAM which can enable valid and reliable expert elicitation and consensus-building in the various sub-disciplines of addiction sciences.
Leadership:
Secreteriats: Hamed Ekhtiari (University of Minnesota, USA), Marc Potenza (Yale University, USA), Alex Baldacchino (St Andrews University, UK)
Steering Committee: Shalini Arunogiri (Monash University, Australia), Marica Ferri (EMCDDA, EU), Atul Ambekar (All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India), Sophia Achab (University of Geneva, Switzerland), Dario Gigena Parker (Ministerio de Salud de Córdoba, Argentina), Hamad Al Ghaferi (National Rehabilitation Center Abu Dhabi, UAE), Vladimir Poznyak (Switzerland), Susumu Higuchi (Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center, Japan), Christos Kouimtsidis (National Office for Addressing Drugs, Greece), Anja Bussee (UNODC), Cor de Jong (Radboud University, Netherlands), Afarin Rahimi-Movaghar (Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies, Iran), Geert Dom (University of Antwerp, Belgium), Susanna Galea Singer (St Andrews University, UK), Mustafa Al’Absi (University of Minnesota, USA), Min Zhao (Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, China), Kathleen Brady (Medical University of South Carolina, USA), Afarin Rahimi-Movaghar (Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies, Iran), Solomon Tshimong Rataemanea (University of Limpopo, South Africa), Goodman Sibeko (University of Cape Town, South Africa), and Roshan Bhad (All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India) (NEW)
Assistant Officers: Arshiya Sangchooli (protocol officer), Arash Khojasteh Zonoozi (protocol officer), Parnian Rafei (communication officer), Fateme sadat Abolghasemi (communication officer), Aldo Alberto Conti (data analytics officer), Ali Fathi Jouzdani (data analytics officer), Mehran Zare-Bidoky (data analytics officer), Ahmad Danesh (data analytics officer), Hossein Mohaddes Ardabili (publication officer), Preethy Kathiresan (publication officer), Jenna Butner (compliance officer), Jiang Long (compliance officer), Mohsen Ebrahimi (data mining officer)
Technical Support: Marilyn Dorozio (ISAM Office, Canada)
Background and mission statement
Expert opinion constitutes an important source of information, especially when other types of data are scarce, the issues under discussion are complex and difficult to address with available data, or there is a need for rapid synthesis of information and intervention formulation. The dynamic and complex nature of substance use disorders and behavioral addictions necessitates the formation of global networks which can rapidly identify emerging challenges, synthesize cross-national information, and provide valid consensus opinions on areas of disagreement. In the wake of the COVID19 pandemic, to assess shifts in the patterns of addiction and national service provision to affected individuals, an ISAM working group conducted a survey of 185 experts in addiction sciences from 77 countries in 2020. The outcome of that survey was encouraging, prompting the ISAM to establish a sustained global network of experts.
The ISAM Global Expert Network (ISAM-GEN) aims to continue this endeavor and develop a global expert infrastructure based around ISAM which can enable valid and reliable expert elicitation and consensus-building in the various sub-disciplines of addiction sciences.
ISAM-GEN protocol paper
You can read more about ISAM-GEN’s structures and procedures on the protocol paper which is now available as pre-print on Psyarxiv: https://psyarxiv.com/mv2tq/
Past and current projects
In response to unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM) in March 2020 delineated practical guidelines for addiction researchers and policymakers to support decision making during the pandemic (bcn.iums.ac.ir/article-1-1743-en.html). Almost one month after this announcement, in April 2020, ISAM conducted a rapid, multi-phasic expert survey of informants from across the globe to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 on different aspects of addiction medicine during the pandemic; including changes in the patterns of drug and alcohol use, price alterations, virtual care, education and training qualities, and addiction treatment and harm reduction services for high-risk populations with substance use disorders. The study protocol was published in June 2020 (bcn.iums.ac.ir/article-1-1821-en.html). A total of 185 respondents from 77 countries participated in the first phase of this global survey:
Given the lack of multicentric addiction epidemiology studies in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ISAM global survey investigated the status of substance use during a 5-week period starting in April 4th, 2020. Respondents from 77 countries reported a significant decrease in drug supply (69.0%), and an increase in prices of the alcohol and drugs market (95.3%) in their countries. The findings also suggested an increase in the usage of alcohol (71.7%), cannabis (63.0%), prescription opioids (70.9%), and sedative/hypnotics (84.6%), while the use of amphetamines (59.7%), cocaine (67.5%), and opiates (58.2%) was reported to be decreasing. A majority of experts also reported increases in complications related to drug and alcohol use (https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.646206/full). An overall rating of the general impact of the pandemic on people with substance use disorders is presented below:
Lastly, the results of this global expert survey suggested an alarming impact on substance use treatment and harm reduction services during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 40% of represented countries having experienced partial discontinuations of important harm-reduction services. Based on this survey, the directors of the ISAM global survey highlighted several issues which needed to be tackled more effectively (www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.639393/full).
The ISAM-GEN is currently working to further develop and validate the global expert survey infrastructure required for future global surveys. One of the currently running projects is the pilot survey as brought up in the protocol paper which is being held in two distinct phases on treatment service provision for opioid use disorder. (NEW)
ISAM-GEN activities
- November 2021: Expert Elicitation Workshop
ISAM-GEN held a workshop and webinar on November 11th, 2021, featuring 20 speakers coming from a wide range of disciplines, aiming to take the first steps toward conducting a global expert survey and developing the World Addiction Medicine Report.
Watch the full recording here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgJEqKeu9ouG7sw_z03l9oSEcvsbgBvjL
Bringing together experts in addiction medicine and expert elicitation, this workshop featured talks on cutting-edge expert elicitation methods and ISAM’s Global Expert Network (ISAM-GEN) initiative. This webinar proved to be the first step in shaping a working group to design a longitudinal global expert survey and develop the “World Addiction Medicine Report”. Attendees from across addiction science disciplines attended the webinar to learn the basic “nuts and bolts” of expert elicitation as a research methodology and discovered how they may join the working group and have a voice in this evolving project.
Link to meeting recording: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgJEqKeu9ouG7sw_z03l9oSEcvsbgBvjL
2. February 2022: First General Assembly of Addiction Medicine Societies
The first general assembly of addiction medicine societies ran by the ISAM regional council and supported by ISAM GEN with more than 150 attendees and 50 speakers from 40 countries on February 10, 2022.
Watch the full recording here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgJEqKeu9ouEN8Op7tNl_9pAYkpydzGIH
Slides: https://www.dropbox.com/s/al3dxngo9d2qttr/01GA-slides_Final.pptx?dl=0
Speakers biosketches and intro to their societies: https://www.dropbox.com/s/uz4007cnl4levmp/FirstISAMGeneralAssembly-SpeakersInformation_Ver14.pdf?dl=0
Here in this meeting, representatives of addiction medicine societies around the world got the chance to introduce themselves and share their status, thoughts, ideas and comments with every other society present in the webinar. All the societies were also introduced to the fundamentals of ISAM-GEN and were invited to take part in the upcoming surveys in the future.
3. October 2022: Second General Assembly of Addiction Medicine Societies
The second general assembly of addiction medicine societies was held in-person on October 3rd as a pre-conference program for the ISAM 2022 congress. Addiction medicine societies’ representatives from many countries around the world thereby shared experiences, in two panels, on the processes through which addiction medicine societies are formed, developed, and extended as well as exchanging knowledge on how international interactions of such nature could help towards advancements in the field, proceeded by follow-up discussions.
4. October 2022: ISAM GEN Panel in ISAM2022 Malta
On the second day of the ISAM annual 2022 conference in Valletta, Malta (October 5, 2022), ISAM-GEN held a symposium on the mail hall of the conference with participation of around 100 attendees both in-person and online. A panel of speakers from the steering committee and the team of assistant officers presented the latest advances in ISAM-GEN.
Watch the full recording here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgJEqKeu9ouEvF52yO-R01PQT1W7C28R4
Slides: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vorj1tdkmjcg9ab/ISAM-GEN%20Valletta%20Symposium%20v4.pptx?dl=0
- ISAM-GEN’s structured panel session at Lisbon Addiction 2022 in Lisbon, Portugal – November 2022
Link for more info: https://www.lisbonaddictions.eu/lisbon-addictions-2022/sessions/how-develop-global-surveys-guidelines-checklists-and-consensus-statements-prevention-and
Here we discussed ISAM-GEN’s experience in running global surveys along with developing consensus projects within the network.
The video of this symposium is available here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgJEqKeu9ouHbWnW93f6KUR9Dmqsv-35H
February 2023: Third General Assembly of Addiction Medicine Societies
The video of this symposium is available here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgJEqKeu9ouG-GOMxHoanClZY2XVTloGk
November 2023: Fourth General Assembly of Addiction Medicine Societies (in-person) in ISAM2023, Morocco
- ISAM-GEN’s pilot surveys – Global survey on treatment service provision for opioid use disorder, phase 1 and 2
As part of the ISAM-GEN protocol, an initial pilot survey has been designed by the steering committee and assistant officers on treatment service provision for opioid use disorder in two distinct phases. The network of addiction societies/organizations have been already contacted for the first phase. The results will be presented in ISAM-GEN’s symposium at the ISAM annual congress in Morocco in November 2023.
- Contribute to ISAM-GEN’s Global Surveys as an investigator or an expert
We are working to encourage other investigators to use ISAM GEN platform to run Global Surveys. You are welcome to contact us at isamgen@wordpress-246698-1352232.cloudwaysapps.com or Dr. Hamed Ekhtiari: h.ekhtiari@gmail.com
Contact us
For any enquiries about the ISAM-GEN or past or current projects, please contact us at isamgen@wordpress-246698-1352232.cloudwaysapps.com, or Dr. Hamed Ekhtiari at hekhtiari@laureateinstitute.org.
For those interested in the network, pick up on the opportunity, fill this form out and you will soon hear from us: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdLaPXh21v2pkB1A7dJoYOnndL_v8RJzOzfnaJvUVx2nYcX7A/viewform?usp=sf_link