PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Current approaches to preventing drug-related harms remain suboptimal. This review describes components of a systems innovation framework for addiction care designed to address escalating drug-related harms and fragmented service delivery through a multidisciplinary, ecosystem-driven approach. RECENT FINDINGS: Innovative approaches to addiction medicine are needed that integrate clinical research with entrepreneurial execution to address three priority areas of need: real-time risk mitigation using digital phenotyping and wearable biosensors for overdose detection; precision surveillance utilizing AI-informed data ecosystems and wastewater analysis; and next-generation therapeutics, including neuromodulation and nanotechnology-driven drug delivery. This creates an innovative "biopsychotechnological" treatment paradigm that moves beyond traditional clinical boundaries. SUMMARY: This framework provides a roadmap for transitioning addiction care from reactive clinical and risk management to innovative and proactive precision medicine. For research, it necessitates a shift toward interdisciplinary validation of "biopsychotechnological" models that bridge bench science and community implementation. For clinical practice, this framework offers a blueprint for integrating real-time biosensing and advanced therapeutics into patient care, promising to reduce mortality and support sustainable recovery through ecosystem-informed and individualized care.
Baldacchino et al. (Fri,) studied this question.