Opioid Addiction Epidemic

Opioid Overdose Prevention Pilot Research

The Pittsburgh region is at the center of an epidemic, but it isn’t an infectious disease. It’s an insidious illness that has been quietly spreading in communities, killing more people each year than car crashes – opioid drug overdoses. The number of people dying in the region has more than tripled in the past decade, and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health is piloting research projects to address the knowledge gaps of the opioid epidemic in a year-long initiative expected to lead to much larger life-saving efforts.
Six faculty led pilot research projects on opioid addiction and the overdose crisis:
  • Jeanine Buchanich on profiling PA mortality 1999-2015 – YouTube
  • Zan Dodson on social media & mapping opioid-use clusters - YouTube
  • Julie Donohue on prescribing - YouTube
  • Mary Hawk on community-engaged research into optimizing health and survival – YouTube
  • Christina Mair on mapping the problem with public data – YouTube
  • Tom Songer on unintentional poisoning – YouTube

Past opioid initiative events and webcasts

Maximize Dean Burke’s School-wide Address “Forecasting and Deflecting the Opioid Overdose Epidemic Curve" (9/14)

Minimize Modeling the Opioid Epidemic: Insights and Potential Solutions from Computational Science (Mon 10/2)

MON 10/2/2017 8:00AM - 5:00PM
Modeling the Opioid Epidemic: Insights and Potential Solutionsfrom Computational Science
PHDL/CTSI Workshop
University Club - Ballroom A
https://ctsi.pitt.edu/research-services/core-services/biomedical-modeling/modeling-conference-2017-modeling-the-opioid-epidemic/

View webcast videos
(Videos available in this Panopto folder 10 minutes before each lecture.)   

WESA 90.5's Bridges to Health initiative coverage: Why The CDC Needs Number Crunchers On The Front Lines Of The Opioid Epidemic  (7min 8sec)

Maximize Dean Burke’s “Forecasting and Deflecting the Opioid Overdose Epidemic Curve" (9/14/17)

Contact

Michael Mallon
Project Coordinator, Opioid Initiatives
Pitt Public Health
412-624-5163
msm126@pitt.edu

Opioids in the News

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This Pitt researcher is using data to fight the opioid epidemic  

This Pitt researcher is using data to fight the opioid epidemic

PITTWIRE - Jeanine Buchanich, a research associate professor in Biostatistics, is taking a big-picture approach to figuring out what programs will best tackle the problem.Buchanich has evaluated public health interventions as varied as community-level training for first responders on naloxone use a... (07/19/2022)
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Doctors devise safer alternative to opioids during, after surgeries  

Doctors devise safer alternative to opioids during, after surgeries

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT - EPI's Wendy King weighs in on opioid use during and after bariatric surgery care. States that many weight-loss centers are indeed developing their own opioid-sparing protocols. The majority of patients seem to be on board with these protocols.  (05/10/2022)
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Donohue looks to improve access to quality care for opioid addiction 

Donohue looks to improve access to quality care for opioid addiction

KDKA RADIO - "Health systems are making a more concerted effort to connect people to treatment," said HPM Chair Julie Donohue. "If someone goes to the emergency department and is treated for an overdose, hospitals are getting better and connecting individual's with treatment before they leave the h... (09/13/2021)
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COVID Cases Still Low in Allegheny County, While Opioid Overdoses Continue to Plague Residents 

COVID Cases Still Low in Allegheny County, While Opioid Overdoses Continue to Plague Residents

WESA-FM - "[That's] a big loophole there in terms of potentially not having people covered who are sick," said board chair IDM and EPI's Lee Harrison.  (07/23/2021)
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Jalal's 2018 work backs impending "fourth wave" of overdose deaths 

Jalal's 2018 work backs impending "fourth wave" of overdose deaths

BUZZFEED NEWS - The resumption of an upward trend in overdose deaths matches projections that HPM's Hawre Jalal and colleagues made in a 2018 study. "The trend has been rising for 30 years, and it has only been accelerating in the pandemic," Jalal said, adding that more recent analysis suggests the... (06/02/2021)
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Drake on increased federal aid to combat the opioid epidemic 

Drake on increased federal aid to combat the opioid epidemic

PGH POST GAZETTE – An increase in federal aid means Pennsylvania has more money to spend on the opioid crisis and with fewer restrictions. HPM's Coleman Drake says easing access to medicine is an important part of continuing to make headway, noting that these benefits have been evident during the C... (03/15/2021)
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The opioid crisis didn’t disappear amid the pandemic. It still calls for urgent action. 

The opioid crisis didn’t disappear amid the pandemic. It still calls for urgent action.

THE WASHINGTON POST - Despite the predominance of the coronavirus pandemic among national priorities, the paper's editorial board urges the dedication of public health funds and attention to the ongoing opioid crisis, citing data gathered by HPM's Hawre Jalal and EPI's Donald S. Burke which suggest... (10/20/2020)


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