Work Supported By $87 Million Grant To Curb Overdose Deaths Underway

By MARY MEEHAN

CREDIT NIH

Federally-funded research is already underway to dramatically reduce overdose deaths in Kentucky.

Sharon Walsh, director of the Center for Drug and Alcohol Research at the University of Kentucky, said Monday that research funded by an $87 million grant from the National Institutes of Health is in progress.

“The primary goal the project is bold. It is to reduce opioid overdose deaths by 40% in three years, in our participating communities, and those communities were all selected because they’ve been highly affected by the opioid crisis,” she said.

Kentucky is one of four states receiving the funding through the HEAL grant which stands for Helping to End Addiction Long Term.

The grant was announced in the spring but Walsh and a host of other dignitaries spoke at a launch Monday on UK’s campus. Walsh says outreach to those in need should begin on December 1. Kentucky has identified 16 communities to be part of the project.

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