National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS)

Brief Description

The National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS) was first funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in 2014 as an expansion of its longstanding Community Epidemiology Workgroup (CEWG).

Through July 2020, the first iteration of the NDEWS Coordinating Center was overseen by researchers at the University of Maryland Center for Substance Abuse Research. In April 2020, NIDA funded the second iteration of the NDEWS Coordinating Center as a Cooperative Agreement grant to the University of Florida. This grant was renewed in 2025. The NDEWS project is led by scientists from the University of Florida, New York University, and Florida Atlantic University.

The NDEWS project incorporates real-time surveillance to detect early signals of potential emerging drug threats. The System implements an Early Warning Network, comprised of 3 groups—a scientific advisory group, sentinel sites from across the United States, and community-based health experts.  This network utilizes novel surveillance methods and harmonizes and disseminates data in a rapid and timely manner.

Ongoing data gathering and coordination provides an integrated and comprehensive characterization of drug use and availability by synthesizing traditional, indirect sources with new, direct sources of data, including sentinel site reports, on-the-ground street reporting, real-time 911 dispatch data, web monitoring, and wastewater epidemiology data. NDEWS publishes a Weekly Briefing with articles and data related to emerging drug issues.

Additional information on the NDEWS project, including current and archived NDEWS reports and webinars, are available at www.ndews.org.

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NDEWS Sentinel Sites

Selected Publications

• Access all NDEWS peer-reviewed publications
• Cottler LB, Goldberger BA, Nixon SJ, Striley CW, Barenholtz E, Fitzgerald ND, Taylor SM, Palamar JJ. Introducing NIDA's New National Drug Early Warning System. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020 Dec 1;217:108286. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108286.
• Barenholtz E, Krotulski AJ, Morris P, Fitzgerald ND, Le A, Papsun DM, Logan BK, Hahn WE, Goldberger BA, Cottler LB, Palamar JJ. Online surveillance of novel psychoactive substances (NPS): Monitoring Reddit discussions as a predictor of increased NPS-related exposures. Int J Drug Policy. 2021 Dec;98:103393. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103393.

Contacts

Principal Investigator:

Linda B. Cottler, PhD, MPH, FACE
Dean’s Professor of Epidemiology, Colleges of Public Health and Health Professions and Medicine, University of Florida
2004 Mowry Road, Room 4219
P.O. Box 100231
Gainesville, FL 32610
Phone: 352-294-5947
E-mail: lbcottler@ufl.edu

NDEWS NIDA Project Scientist:

Erin M. Parker, PhD  
Commander, US Public Health Service 
Epidemiology Research Branch
Division of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research
National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health 
Phone: 301-451-8506
E-mail: erin.parker@nih.gov

NDEWS NIDA Program Official: 

MeLisa R. Creamer, PhD, MPH
Deputy Branch Chief
Epidemiology Research Branch
Division of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research 
National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health
Phone: 301-402-1933
E-mail: melisa.creamer@nih.gov