Kasey Claborn headlined the first Lunch and Learn of the academic year at UT Social Work, presented by the Moritz Center for Societal Impact.

Claborn, who is the director of the Addiction Research Institute and an associate professor at UT Social Work, presented on how data and technology advances community intelligence in overdose prevention and response. Claborn drew on her career as a researcher as she shared highlights such as TxCOPE, a platform designed to improve overdose reporting and responses within the State of Texas.

“We wanted to create a new data source that was based in community data,” Claborn said, who noted that the platform helped get data closer to real-time data. Prior to the platform’s existence, overdose data was anywhere between “six months and three years old,” but the platform improved it to “seven to 30 days.” With an improved time, resources like naloxone were able to be deployed more effectively and efficiently.

More importantly, the platform helped develop community research and buy-in, Claborn said. By utilizing street artists to design website and branding assets, the platform also connected with targeted audiences which built trust in reporting.

“Individuals would ask if we were ‘the people with the blue dot’ when we talked to them,” Claborn said. “And that made them willing to partner with us on data.”

Some of those fostered relationships, Claborn said, brought measurable improvements to harm reduction responses. She noted that the trust built with teams on the ground resulted in more information being reported, including non-lethal overdoses, and overdoses that may not be captured by traditional medical reporting.

The TxCOPE project entered hiatus in 2024, but Claborn still continues to lead on research integrating digital health, technology and data to address overdoses and the opioid crisis. She also continues to work closely with community partners to collaborate on studies and build trust in communities.

“Effective scientific leadership means protecting the mission while remaining flexible about the pathway,” Claborn said.