Stemming the Tide of the US Overdose Crisis: How Can We Leverage the Power of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence?

Magdalena Cerdá; Daniel B Neill; Ellicott C Matthay; Johnathan A Jenkins; Brandon D L Marshall; Katherine M Keyes

doi:10.1111/1468-0009.70025

Stemming the Tide of the US Overdose Crisis: How Can We Leverage the Power of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence?

Milbank Q. 2025 Jun 4. doi: 10.1111/1468-0009.70025. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Magdalena Cerdá¹, Daniel B Neill^{2

3

4

5}, Ellicott C Matthay¹, Johnathan A Jenkins⁶, Brandon D L Marshall⁷, Katherine M Keyes⁸

Affiliations

¹ Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy, NYU Langone Health.
² Courant Institute, New York University.
³ Wagner School of Public Service, New York University.
⁴ Center for Urban Science and Progress, New York University.
⁵ Tandon School of Engineering, New York University.
⁶ Arcos Technologies, Inc.
⁷ School of Public Health, Brown University.
⁸ Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University.

PMID: 40465967
DOI: 10.1111/1468-0009.70025

Abstract

Policy Points We can leverage data science and artificial intelligence to inform state and local resource allocation for overdose prevention. Data science and artificial intelligence can help us answer four questions: (1) What is the impact of laws on access to interventions and overdose risk? (2) Where should interventions be targeted? (3) Which types of demographic subgroups benefit the most and the least from interventions? and (4) Which types of interventions should they invest in for each setting and population? Advances in data science and artificial intelligence can accelerate the pace at which we can answer these critical questions and help inform an effective overdose prevention response.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; data science; epidemiology; overdose; population health; prevention.