Phillip Marotta, an assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, has co-developed a course that prepares pharmacy professionals who are training to become community health workers in harm reduction, overdose prevention and substance use care.
The course, “Integrated Community Approaches to Overdose Prevention and Substance Use Health,” was created by interdisciplinary team of faculty from the Missouri Pharmacy Association, the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy in St. Louis — now part of WashU — and the University of Kansas School of Pharmacy. Brown School alumna Emily Palm, who earned an MSW and MBA in 2024, also helped develop the course.
The training provides evidence-based instruction on infectious disease prevention, medications for substance use disorders and strategies to address underlying factors that contribute to poor medication adherence, including stigma and gaps in access to community resources. The course is offered through CEimpact, which provides ACPE-accredited continuing education for pharmacists, technicians, and students.
Marotta received a grant through the Missouri Board of Pharmacy’s Rx Cares Program to support development of the curriculum. Researchers are collecting baseline and follow-up data from participating pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to evaluate the program’s effectiveness.
Marotta’s research focuses on scaling up evidence-based practices for the treatment and mitigation of harms of substance use disorders in settings such as pharmacies, primary care and the criminal legal system. A domain of Marotta’s research includes the design and evaluation of workforce development strategies including training and credentialing of pharmacy technicians and community health workers to improve the delivery of naloxone, medication for opioid use disorders, and infectious disease prevention information.
At its March 6 meeting, the Washington University Board of Trustees promoted Marotta to associate professor with tenure, effective July 1, 2026.