Addiction Treatment Center To Bolster Research Efforts At Harford Co. Site

HAVRE DE GRACE, MD — Nestled along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay sits Ashley Addiction Treatment's main campus on 147 acres.

The nonprofit addiction recovery treatment facility offers inpatient care, outpatient care and extended care options. But also focuses on research that yields data to help guide patient care.

The treatment center recently announced that it's expanding its research efforts thanks to a new freestanding facility called the Addiction Recovery Research Center.

Company leaders say it's the only one of its kind of the East Coast and recently held a ribbon-cutting to introduce to the public the 1,580-square-foot facility that will bring together researchers, clinicians, academic collaborators and patients.

"Ultimately we want to get people better quicker and we want to keep them better for longer. And that’s where the research fits in," Greg Hobelmann, co-CEO of Ashley Addiction Treatment Center, told WBAL.

"We measure a lot of things here and use that information to help maximize the outcomes each individual patient can achieve," added Dr. Wendy Insalaco, director of clinical quality outcomes.

The new building will be dedicated solely to addiction-based research, but the center also is testing new treatments to curb substance use, including a study involving GLP-1s, a class of medications originally prescribed for weight loss.

"Food craving and drug craving lies in a similar control center of the brain, so it makes sense that it could also be effective at suppressing craving for drugs and other substances. Patients who were prescribed GLP-1s for weight loss were also getting this side effect that they were drinking less and smoking cigarettes less," said Jami Barney, director of clinical research.

The center will partner with Johns Hopkins for a clinical trial that pairs GLP-1s with naltrexone, an established treatment for alcohol use disorder, to determine if the combination is effective at reducing cravings to drink.

"I do think this has the potential to be groundbreaking," Barney said.

The GLP-1 study is scheduled to begin in early 2027, with results expected approximately two years later, according to The Baltimore Times.

“It’s through research that we learn how to provide the most effective care for our patients,” Hobelmann added. “Every answer we uncover here has the potential to improve care for the patients we serve today and advance treatment for people in recovery everywhere.”

Research studies currently underway with Ashley's research team and academic collaborators include:

• Safety and efficacy of GLP-1 medications combined with naltrexone in early recovery
• Treatment of co-occurring insomnia and alcohol use disorder
• The relationship between gut health and recovery outcomes
• Cognitive decline in older adults with alcohol use disorder