The College of Public Health (CoPH) at Kent State University (KSU) has received a 5-year, $1.5 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to develop and implement a real time drug use detection system to inform drug prevention efforts in Portage, Geauga and Lake counties. Dr. Deric Kenne, Associate Director of the Division of Mental Health and Substance Use in the Center for Public Policy and Health, and his team will collaborate with Dr. Rumoing Jin and his team in the Department of Computer Science, to develop the innovative drug use detection system. The system will integrate online social media and offline geospatial data, and will incorporate deep learning, natural language processing, and data mining to create a current and ongoing assessment of substance use in each county. The innovative approach to drug use detection and prevention will not only be able to focus prevention efforts but will assist community agencies in better utilizing often limited resources.
