Ep 2.21: Jill Fikowski on on Substance Use, Stigma, and the Research That Actually Changed Policy (1/3)

Jill Fikowski, founder and CEO of Changemark Research + Evaluation, brings 25+ years of lived and professional experience in substance use and mental health research. In this episode we cover her work on the SALOME trial, one of the rare studies that directly changed policy. But it wasn't just the science. It was how they centered participants from the beginning.

We also explore:

1. How to design community engagement and knowledge translation into your trial from day one
2. The gap between saying participants matter and actually building research around their humanity
3. What happens when you ask participants at the end: "What could we have done better?"
4. The difference between checking the box on community input and genuinely centering stakeholder voices

She challenges us to confront how our biases shape every decision: who we enroll, what data we collect, what we do with findings, and whether we ever ask participants what they actually needed. 

Part 1 of 3.