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Opioid Epidemic
Opioid drug misuse and addiction are epidemic in the United States. Every day, 90 people lose their lives to opioid overdose and the economic burden of the crisis has climbed to an estimated $80 billion a year. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania are spearheading multi-faceted solutions to address the problem.
Elliot Hersh
School of Dental Medicine.
University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Hersh has performed FDA trials to test the efficacy and safety of non-opioid painkillers for use following dental surgery for more than 25 years. On the educational front, he has most recently helped provide an NIH-funded multidisciplinary Pain Science Course to medical, dental, nursing and pharmacy students.
Beth Adams | 215-573-8224 | adamsnb@pobox.upenn.edu
Peggy Compton
School of Nursing.
University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Compton has studied opioid use and pain management for more than two decades. She can discuss misconceptions about this prescription drug epidemic, particularly that pain patients make up the majority of patients becoming addicted to opioids.
Ed Federico | 215-746-3562 | efed@nursing.upenn.edu
Kyle Kampman
Perelman School of Medicine.
University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Kampman specializes in alcohol, cocaine, and opiate addiction treatment. He can discuss the challenges many patients face when trying to detox from opioids, the important need for medical support to ease withdrawal symptoms, and new strategies to help prevent relapse.
Queen Muse | (267) 240-2448 | queen.muse@uphs.upenn.edu
Jeffrey Saven
School of Arts & Sciences.
University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Saven’s work uses computational techniques to redesign the mu-opioid receptor, one of the human body’s most important receptors which is critical in the action of painkillers and anesthetics. Variants of the receptor can be grown in large quantities in bacteria and is also water-soluble, enabling experiments and applications, such as artificial chemical sensors, that had previously been very challenging or impossible.
Mary Robinson
Acting Director of the Pennsylvania Equine Toxicology and Research Laboratory in the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
School of Veterinary Medicine.
University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Robinson studies the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drug usage in horses. She can discuss the role that opioids play in veterinary medicine and the implications of their misuse on the well-being of race horses.
Hannah Kleckner | 610-925-6241 | hkleck@vet.upenn.edu