Wilson R. Palacios

Expertise

Research Interests

Substance Use & Abuse; Hidden Populations; Qualitative Research Methods.

Education

• Ph D: Sociology, (1996), University of Miami - Coral Gables Florida
• MA: Sociology , (1993), University of Miami - Coral Gables Florida
• BA: Criminal Justice , (1991), University of Miami - Coral Gables Florida

Selected Awards and Honors

• Recipient of the University of South Florida’s 2013 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award. (2013), Teaching - College of Behavioral & Community Sciences, University of South Florida
• Recipient of National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Extramural Loan Repayment Program for Clinical Researchers (LRP-CR): NIDA Clinical Research Scholar: 2012-2013. (2012) - National Institutes of Health- National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Recipient of National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Extramural Loan Repayment Program for Clinical Researchers (LRP-CR): NIDA Clinical Research Scholar: 2010-2012. (2010) - National Institutes of Health - National Institute on Drug Abuse
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Special Populations Research Development Seminar Series, Research Development for the Career Scientist. Invited Participant. (2010) - National Institutes of Health - National Institute on Drug Abuse

Selected Presentations

• Rapid Assessment of Consumer Knowledge – (RACK Project) - Presentation to City of Lowell Mayor’s Opiate Epidemic Crisis Task Force, April 2018 - Lowell MA
• Rapid Assessment of Consumer Knowledge – (RACK Project) - Massachusetts Integrated Prevention and Care Committee (MIPCC); Massachusetts Department of Health (DPH), March 2018 - Malborough MA
• the Opioid Syndemic Puzzle in the City of Lowell. - RiverTalk 3.0; University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML), College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (FAHSS), March 2018 - Lowell MA
• Rapid Assessment of Consumer Knowledge – (RACK Project) - Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (BSAS), November 2017 - Boston, MA
• Rapid Assessment of Consumer Knowledge (RACK Project) - City of Lowell Community Discussion Project CARE & RACK., Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) & Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (BSAS), October 2017 - Lowell, Massachusetts
• Lowell CO-OP Project Care - Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) & Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (BSAS) Outreach & Intervention Model Evaluators, September 2017 - Watham, Massachusetts
• Understanding the ‘Risk Environment’ of Opioid Overdose - University of Massachusetts Boston, Sociology Department, Research Colloquium, December 2016
• Deconstructing Stereotypes through Qualitative Research - Infographic presentation at the 2016 University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML), College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, River Talks 2016, February 2016 - Lowell, Massachusetts

Research Currently in Progress

• A Process & Impact Evaluation of City of Lowell’s Opioid Overdose Project (LOOP) in Lowell, Massachusetts.

  The City of Lowell will use a two-pronged approach to intervene in the lives of opioid overdose survivors and to provide early intervention to children impacted by opioid overdoses.
  Palacios, W.R. (School of Criminology), Morabito , M.S. (School of Criminology), Toof, R. (Center for Community Research & Engagement ), Bond, B. (Suffolk University ), Wall, M. (Center for Community Research & Engagement )

• Lowell PEer Education and Risk Reduction Services (PEERRS)

  The Lowell PEer Education and Risk Reduction (PEERRs) Services is a University of Baltimore-Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) research & evaluative initiative facilitating a collaborative effort between academic institutions (The Tufts University School of Medicine, UMass Lowell-Center for Community Research & Engagement), community-based harm reduction programs, and local public health and public safety officials. Lowell PEERRs builds on existing public health & public safety collaborative efforts, and enhances harm reduction services through expanded syringe services and overdose prevention in the City of Lowell, MA.
  Palacios, W.R. (School of Criminology), Toof, R. (Center for Community Research & Engagement ), Wall , M. (Center for Community Research & Engagement ), Stopka , T. (Tufts University School of Medicine )

• Prescription Drug Monitoring Program: City of Lowell & Lowell Police Department – Lowell Opioid Overdose Project

  Funding will be used to form multi-disciplinary action groups consisting of local, state, and federal criminal justice professionals in addition to state and local health authorities as well treatment providers. Action group members may include (but are not limited to): district attorney’s office, state or local health department, state medical and pharmacy boards, police and sheriff departments, probation and parole, local drug treatment providers, and community organizations. The action groups will collect data from various sources such as medical examiners, emergency rooms, crime data, and other relevant sources that can help to corroborate PDMP data as well as provide additional information to help pinpoint specific locations within the county that are at-risk for prescription drug abuse and drug overdose deaths. Grant activities should focus on data sharing arrangements, data collection, and analysis. Project plan should describe the type of strategies to be developed and the areas (e.g., prevention, treatment, regulatory activity, enforcement) in which the action group plans to have impact to address prescription drug abuse rates in a defined jurisdiction(s). It is anticipated that grantees will determine best practices for sharing data, establishing effective policy and regulatory schemes, supporting investigations, treatment intervention, and prevention efforts for at-risk individuals and communities.
  Palacios, W.R. (School of Criminology), Toof, R. (Center for Community Research & Engagement ), Wall , M. (Center for Community Research & Engagement )

• Rapid Assessment of Consumer Knowledge (RACK Project)

  A CDC-funded qualitative epidemiological surveillance initiative with colleagues from Boston Medical Center, Northeastern University, and the New England HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) field office. The project's aims are: 1. To describe exposure to, use of, and protective behaviors associated with fentanyl among people who use drugs in Massachusetts. 2. To assess the impact of policy responses being evaluated by the Prevention for States Massachusetts grant, namely the Good Samaritan Act and opioid prescribing restrictions, from the perspective of the active drug user.
  Palacios, W.R. (School of Criminology), Green , T. (Boston University Medical Center ), Stopka, T. (Tufts University School of Medicine ), Case , P. (Northeastern University )