Presenter: Dr. Fernando Montero, Postdoctoral Fellow, HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies
Fernando Montero is Chief T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at Columbia University. His mixed-methods research studies the public health implications of recent transformations to the street drug supply in the United States, especially the emergence of synthetic sedatives (fentanyl and xylazine) and stimulants (crystal methamphetamine). He focuses particularly on contemporary changes in the risk environment for HIV, HCV, mental health conditions, and fatal overdose among street-based people who use drugs in Philadelphia and the wider Rust Belt region. One of the central questions guiding his current research is why the opioid overdose epidemic is becoming increasingly Black following almost three decades in which it was predominantly white and working class. He is also conducting a long-term ethnographic study of the War on Drugs and militarization in the Afro-Indigenous region of Moskitia on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua and Honduras. 

Description: This 1.5-hour virtual training will provide an overview of Xylazine, including information on its emergence in the local drug supply and its effect on persons who use drugs (PWUD). This includes an emphasis on the unique impact of Xylazine as it pertains to overdose risk, overdose response, and the development of soft skin tissue infections. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with an expert regarding emerging developments in
your community.

Learning Objectives: 

• The pharmacokinetics of Xylazine and its unique impact on wounds
• Emerging trends regarding xylazine (prevalence in supply)
• Xylazine's impact on overdose
• Implications for overdose reversal with Narcan