PHMC, a nonprofit public health institute that creates and sustains healthier communities, announced that it merged Treatment Research Institute (TRI), a leading, national nonprofit research, development and policy organization, into its family of programs.

“PHMC is always looking to complement our portfolio of programs and services with strategies that better meet the public health needs of our communities,” said PHMC President & CEO Richard J. Cohen. “TRI merging into PHMC creates great opportunity for the development of research and scientific-based programs that treat substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health issues, a topic of critical importance in light of today’s opioid epidemic.”

TRI has integrated into PHMC’s Research and Evaluation (R&E) Group, which is dedicated to improving the health of communities through applied, community-based research and rigorous program evaluation designed to inform best practices in the public health and education arenas. TRI and PHMC have had a long-standing collaborative relationship involving multiple initiatives.

“PHMC has always approached its work through a health equity lens, with a focus on team-based science and the need for cross-disciplinary perspectives to solve today’s most pressing public health, education and social problems. We are excited to be joined by a team of world-class scientists who have made critical contributions to the substance abuse treatment and policy arena” said Lisa Bond, Managing Director, PHMC’s R&E Group. “There will be greater opportunity to work across the broad PHMC enterprise, as well as directly with health care providers, insurers, criminal justice agencies, treatment providers, schools, government, and families to achieve a shared goal of influencing public awareness and use of evidence-informed responses to substance use disorders.”