Alex Manini
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NY·Medicine & Clinical Research
Fentanyl and closely related synthetic opioids are now the main cause of drug overdose deaths in the United States. U.S.
- Fields
Medicine & Clinical Research
Public Health & Epidemiology
Pharmacology
- Topics
opioid overdose
fentanyl
fentalogs
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2030
What they work on
- Identify novel fentanyl analogues (fentalogs), psychoactive adulterants and nitazenes, a class of potent synthetic opioids, in emergency department overdose patients using toxicology lab analysis across the multicenter ToxIC network.
- Derive clinical risk factors that predict which opioid overdose patients will need naloxone, critical care or mechanical ventilation, using a new prospective cohort enrolled at 10 hospital centers.
- Track and share regional and time-based trends and outbreaks of overdoses involving fentalogs, adulterants and nitazenes, with rapid alerts sent to the public and to public health agencies.
More about the research
overdose deaths topped 108,000 over 12 months in 2023, and more than 70% involved an opioid. The illegal drug supply keeps changing. It increasingly contains fentanyl analogues ("fentalogs", chemical variants of fentanyl), other psychoactive additives called adulterants, and nitazenes, a separate class of very potent synthetic opioids. Doctors often do not know exactly what a patient took or which patients will need intensive care. This project studies overdose patients as they arrive at the hospital to close that gap.
Why it matters
Emergency doctors treating opioid overdoses often do not know which new fentanyl analogues or adulterants their patients took. Identifying these drugs and the risk factors for severe outcomes could help predict who will need naloxone, intensive care or a ventilator. Fast public alerts about dangerous drugs and regional outbreaks could help public health agencies respond to the U.S. opioid epidemic.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Hillary Samples
Rutgers University-New Brunswick, NJ·Public Health & Epidemiology
Assess trends from 2016-2025 in near-fatal and fatal overdose events among Medicaid-enrolled youth aged 12-29, broken out by drugs involved and intent and by age group spanning early adolescence through early adulthood.
Tommi Gaines
University of California-San Diego, CA·Public Health & Epidemiology
Build a community-based participatory research partnership with Southern California Tribal and community representatives to co-design a culturally appropriate study of naloxone vending machines on Tribal lands.
Susan Sherman
Johns Hopkins University, MD·Public Health & Epidemiology
Adapt Mobile SPARC outreach services for women who use drugs by identifying factors that help or hinder service use, through in-depth interviews with 40 women and 5 staff members.
The school
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: 45 labs on PI Pages, $1.0B a year on research, 62 research doctorates a year.
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