What We Do at the Moe Lab

Dr. Jessica Moe leads an innovative research program that focuses on developing and evaluating emergency department and community-based interventions for people who use substances. Her research seeks to capitalize on underrecognized opportunities to identify high-risk individuals and to initiate innovative clinical and public health interventions at the point of contact with acute and emergency care. Dr. Jessica Moe is the principal investigator on the Evaluating Microdosing in the Emergency Department (EMED) study, a multi-centre, randomized controlled trial evaluating emergency department-initiated buprenorphine/naloxone microdosing and standard dosing inductions for people with opioid use disorder. She is also the principal investigator on the Preventing Opioid Deaths due to COVID-Related Increase in Smoking Illicit Substances (Preventing OD CRISIS) study, wherein her team developed and implemented a novel continuous pulse oximetry protocol to enable real-time monitoring of clients’ oxygen levels while smoking opioids at Overdose Prevention Services sites.

Dr. Moe additionally leads studies to implement and evaluate Peer support workers to support ED patients who use substances and to improve monitoring for ED patients with unregulated drug toxicity using capnography (CO2 monitoring). Other projects include evaluating optimal naloxone dosing in fentanyl and ultra-potent opioid overdoses, developing standardized approaches to emergency department screening for substance and opioid use disorder, characterizing people with frequent emergency department visits (including those with alcohol use and substance use disorders) using provincial and national databases, and analyzing patient outcomes following opioid overdose using Provincial Overdose Cohort data.

Dr. Jessica Moe holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Emergency Response to the Opioid Overdose Crisis. She is the Scientific Director of the Emergency Opioid Innovation Program within Emergency Care BC and practices as an emergency physician at Vancouver General Hospital and BC Children’s Hospital. Her research is supported by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Health Canada, the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians, BCCDC, Vancouver Physician Staff Association, and UBC.

//