UO, OHSU receive $10.1 million grant to research opioid epidemic

The National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded a $10.1 million grant to the University of Oregon (UO) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) to address the opioid epidemic in Oregon.

According to the UO, the grant will be used to fund an NIH “national center of excellence to better understand and develop interventions that can lead to improvements in outcomes for mothers who have a history of opioid use, as well as their children.”

NIH’s Centers of Excellence program fosters collaborative research efforts in a particular area of study.

“These resources for world-class Oregon researchers are incredibly timely, given opioids’ devastating impact on our state and country,” said U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden in reference to the new grant. “This research has significant potential to improve family health by helping women battling opioids addiction as well as their children who need parents fully engaged and free of addiction.”

The funding will also support three research projects. Two projects based at the UO will focus on supporting women to ensure they are equipped to support their children. The third project will be based at OHSU and will use neuroimaging to understand the brain function of mothers and their children.

The University of Oregon reports that a multidisciplinary approach is necessary to tackle this problem. The faculty involved in the research funded by the grant will come from a variety of different disciplines and perspectives.