Research

My research aims to make the hospital a place where people with opioid use disorder (OUD) receive effective treatment and stay connected to care after they leave. Fentanyl has changed what withdrawal looks like, how patients respond to standard medication starts, and how often they leave the hospital before treatment is complete. I use real-world clinical data to understand those gaps and to test practical, systems-level fixes.

Current focus

Withdrawal management in the fentanyl era. Opioid withdrawal is often undertreated in the hospital, and it is a common reason patients leave before treatment is complete. I am interested in how improvements to EHR-based clinical decision support could strengthen opioid withdrawal management, and I contributed to a 2026 consensus meeting on how opioid withdrawal should be measured.

Methadone and buprenorphine in the hospital. I study how methadone dosing during hospitalization relates to patient-directed discharge and readmission, and how buprenorphine and methadone initiation have changed for patients using fentanyl.

Patient-directed discharge. Leaving the hospital before treatment is complete is common among people with OUD and is associated with serious harm. My work examines its drivers and the hospital practices that can reduce it.

Data systems and policy. Hospitals often cannot confirm a patient’s methadone dose from their opioid treatment program. I have worked on integrating opioid treatment program data into Maryland’s health information exchange (CRISP), presented this work to the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission, and co-led a national workshop on methadone dose confirmation under federal privacy rules (42 CFR Part 2).

Selected publications

Meredith RR*, Garneau WM*, Feder KA, Buresh ME. Methadone dose and patient-directed discharge in hospitalized patients with opioid use disorder. JAMA Network Open. 2026;9(3):e263439. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.3439
*Co-first authors

Kee DP, Feder KA, Wood L, Garneau WM*, Buresh ME*. Trends in buprenorphine and methadone initiation for opioid use disorder among patients using fentanyl: a mixed-methods analysis from an inpatient addiction consult service. Journal of Addiction Medicine. 2026. doi:10.1097/ADM.0000000000001693
*Co-senior authors

Garneau WM, Kushmeliuk S, Kee DP, Gebo KA, Buresh ME. Patient-directed discharge among hospitalized persons with opioid use disorder in the fentanyl era: a scoping review. American Journal of Medicine Open. 2026;15:100130. doi:10.1016/j.ajmo.2026.100130

Garneau WM, Strain EC, Fingerhood MI. Challenges with buprenorphine initiation in the fentanyl era—adapting effectively to the moment. JAMA Network Open. 2026;9(1):e2552140. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.52140

A full list of my publications is available on PubMed and in my CV.

Recent talks

• Door-to-balloon time for withdrawal: evidence and new approaches for acute withdrawal in the fentanyl era. Yale School of Medicine Addiction Grand Rounds, July 2026.
• Hospital experience for persons with OUD. Cleveland Clinic Department of Hospital Medicine Grand Rounds, June 2025.
• Pilot integration of OTP data into Maryland CRISP. Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission, April 2025.

Support and recognition

My research has been supported by an NIH/NCATS KL2 award through the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, the Johns Hopkins Center for Innovative Medicine Next Generation Scholars Award, and a Johns Hopkins Department of Medicine CORE Coins Award. I am a Research in Addiction Medicine Scholar (2025–2027) and a fellow of the Center for Dissemination & Implementation Science at Stanford (C-DIAS). In 2025 I was named Researcher of the Year by the Johns Hopkins Division of Hospital Medicine, and in 2026 I received the College on Problems of Drug Dependence Community Champion Award.