College of Pharmacy
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PREMIER Center

About Us

The Prescription Drug Misuse Education and Research (PREMIER) Center was established in December 2018 with the goal of reversing the devastating effects of controlled substance prescription misuse on families, communities, and the health care system. It is the first center at the University of Houston dedicated to prescription drug misuse research and education.

The PREMIER Center will address currently unmet needs, including leading research on controlled substance prescription medications, educating key stakeholders involved in the prescribing and dispensing of prescription medications (e.g., prescribers, pharmacists), and developing educational opportunities for practitioners and professional students.

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pill bottles

Research

The PREMIER Center team will collaborate on projects both within the center and through an extensive network of clinicians and researchers in the Texas Medical Center and across the state to understand and propose solutions for the opioid crisis facing our community, city, state and nation.

The PREMIER Center will address needs not currently being met by any other center, including leading research on controlled substance prescription (CSP) medications.

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UH News Releases About Center

Education

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

The Safe Drug Disposal and Community Awareness (SDD/CA) Project of the Texas Targeted Opioid Response (TTOR) program’s purpose is to improve the lives of Texans by preventing the non-medical use of prescription medications through increased access to safe disposal methods, assessment of health care provider practices relating to disposal methods, and providing prevention education to high-risk individuals in Texas. Texas Targeted Opioid Response (TTOR) is funded through a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Since 2018, the PREMIER Center team has worked with local community prevention groups, hospitals, physicians’ offices, pharmacies, as well as fire, police, and emergency responders to distribute Single-Use Disposal Systems to allow the safe disposal of medications from home.

More About Community Outreach

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Internal Members

  • Douglas Thornton

    Douglas Thornton, Ph.D., Pharm.D., BCPS

    Director and Associate Professor
    Health services research, prescription drug misuse, substance use disorders, pain management

  • Matthew Wanat

    Matthew Wanat, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCCCP, FCCM

    Assistant Director and Clinical Professor
    Prescription drug misuse prevention, anticoagulation/cardiology, scholarship of teaching and learning

  • Austin De La Cruz

    Austin De La Cruz, Pharm.D., BCPS

    Clinical Associate Professor
    Mental health disorders in veterans

  • Lyn Yuen Choo

    Lyn Yuen Choo, Ph.D., Pharm.D.

    Postdoctoral Fellow
    Clinical and translational science, implementation science, health services research 

  • E. James Essien

    E. James Essien, M.D., DrPH

    Professor
    HIV/AIDS prevention among minority populations, patient-centered health outcomes research

  • ohene

    Lilian Ohene, Ph.D.

    Postdoctoral Fellow
    Addiction Sciences

  • Dipali Rinker

    Dipali Rinker, Ph.D., LPC

    Research Associate Professor
    High-risk and addictive behaviors, social mechanisms of change, social determinants  of health

  • Moosa Tatar

    Moosa Tatar, Ph.D.

    Assistant Professor
    Health economics, health policy, health services research, simulation and modeling

  • Elisabeth Wang

    Elisabeth Wang, Pharm.D., BCCCP

    Clinical Associate Professor
    Antithrombotic therapy, hypertension, transitions of care

External Members

  • Sang Kyu Cho

    Sang Kyu Cho

    Collaborator; Associate Director of Health Economic Modelling, Johnson and Johnson

  • Marc Fleming

    Marc Fleming, Ph.D., MPH, R.PH.

    Collaborator; Department Chair, Chapman University School of Pharmacy

  • Jennifer Park

    Jennifer Park

    Collaborator; Founder & Executive Director, Moving Waters

  • Rudi Safarudin

    Rudi Safarudin, Pharm.D., M.Pharm, M.Ed.

    Affiliate Researcher; Faculty, Tadulako University, Palu, Indonesia

  • Chan Shen

    Chan Shen, Ph.D.

    Collaborator; Professor, Department of Surgery, and Chief, Division of Outcomes, Research and Quality, Penn State Cancer Institute

  • Mina Shrestha

    Mina Shrestha, Ph.D.

    Affiliate Researcher; Research Scientist, Possible Health

  • Tyler Varisco

    Tyler Varisco, Ph.D., Pharm.D.

    Collaborator; Assistant Professor and Director, PhARM Program, University of Texas at Austin