The INSPIRE study launched its Community of Practice (CoP) on October 6, 2026, bringing together healthcare providers, researchers and program implementers in Lusaka, Zambia, and Baltimore to strengthen collaboration and improve care for people who inject drugs (PWID).

INSPIRE, which stands for Integrated Services for PWID using Person-centered Interactions, Reach, and Engagement, aims to improve HIV prevention, HIV treatment and overall health outcomes among people who inject drugs in Zambia. The study seeks to identify barriers and facilitators to implementing medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), co-adapt an HIV status-neutral Collaborative Care Management Model, and evaluate implementation using implementation science approaches. The study is co-led by multiple principal investigators Lavoie and Claassen.

The Community of Practice is a central component of the project, providing a forum for ongoing learning, knowledge exchange and collaboration. Through monthly webinars, didactic presentations and collaborative case discussions, participants will explore evidence-based approaches to caring for people who inject drugs, including HIV prevention and treatment, methadone treatment, overdose prevention, mental health care and common medical comorbidities.

The inaugural session drew 45 participants and was moderated by Linah Mwango, technical director of Ciheb-Zambia. Christopher Welsh, MD, an INSPIRE co-investigator, addiction psychiatrist and associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, introduced opioid use disorder and medication-assisted treatment. The session also featured an expert panel discussion with Duncan Chanda, former director of the Adult Infectious Diseases Centre at University Teaching Hospital in Zambia.

By connecting expertise across Zambia and Baltimore, the INSPIRE Community of Practice is intended to support shared learning and strengthen providers’ capacity to deliver person-centered, evidence-based care.