Opioid Epidemic: State of Emergency

Learn about Innovations to Fight the Opioid Crisis on November 29, 2017 at The Universities at Shady Grove.

Hear from expert Dr. Nora Volkow, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, on a rare local appearance. 

Opioid misuse and addiction is an ongoing and rapidly evolving public health crisis. Millions of Americans suffer from opioid use disorder, and millions more suffer from chronic pain. The urgency and scale of this crisis calls for innovative, scientific solutions. As part of a government-wide effort to address this crisis, NIH is supplementing existing research efforts with a public-private collaborative research initiative to address new and innovative medications to treat opioid addiction; strategies to prevent and reverse opioid overdose; and safe, effective, and non-addictive ways to manage chronic pain.

Dr. Volkow will speak about our current understanding of the opioid crisis nationally and locally, what research has taught us about addiction, its prevention and treatment, and how science can help end the opioid crisis once and for all.