Study Director: Adati Tarfa, PhD, is a postdoctoral associate at Yale University School of Medicine studying with Sandra Springer, MD. In addition to holding a doctoral degree in Health Services Research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she holds a PharmD from Drake University.

I-STARR Mentor: mPI Amy Mericle, PhD.

Pilot Study: To our knowledge, Adati is conducting the first study to examine mobile pharmacy services for recovery housing and MOUD integration. The study aims to examine recovery housing perspectives, preferences and knowledge of individuals receiving MOUD, and explore pharmacists’ knowledge and perspectives on recovery housing for patients receiving MOUD. The research addresses critical gaps by establishing mobile pharmacies as integral systems of recovery housing referrals and MOUD providers.

Approach: The study employs an exploratory sequential mixed methods design. Phase 1 recruits 50 MOUD recipients through the InMOTION mobile pharmacy for structured surveys assessing awareness and willingness to engage with recovery housing. Phase 2 collects qualitative data from 15 community pharmacists to understand their knowledge and readiness to support patients in accessing recovery housing services.

Innovations: This study is among the first exploration of pharmacy services within recovery housing research and introduces an innovative healthcare delivery system leveraging the first legal retail mobile pharmacy in the United States. The study is supported by Dr. Sandra Springer’s NIDA Avant-Garde Award for Project InMOTION, which deploys mobile pharmacies to communities identified by Connecticut’s Department of Public Health based on state overdose data.

Watch an interview with Adati to learn more. 

Presentations and Publications:

Tarfa, A., Mericle, A., Schulthies, A. M., Di Paola, A., Frank, C.A., Brooks, R., Shenoi, S., & Springer, S. A. (2025). Mixed Methods Study of Mobile Pharmacy Services for Recovery Housing and Medication for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) Integration. Poster presentation at the annual American Pharmacists Association Conference, Nashville, TN

Tarfa, A., Mericle, A., Schulthies, A. M., Di Paola, A., Frank, C.A., Brooks, R., Shenoi, S., & Springer, S. A. (2025). Expanding the Impact of Pharmacy Services by Integrating them with Recovery Housing: A Mixed Methods Study. Virtual poster presentation at the annual National Conference on Addiction Recovery Science (NCARS).