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The United States is in the midst of a deepening opioid crisis. IPRC researchers engage with state and community partners to develop solutions to mitigate and prevent long-term opioid use and overdose. Many states, including North Carolina, have developed opioid action plans link opens new window. Our research is responsive to the research needs articulated in these plans.

Featured Research

  • UNC Street Drug Analysis Lab link opens new window
  • Methodological Advances in Evaluating Abuse Deterrent Opioid Analgesics
  • Helping NC Agencies Develop Evidence-Driven Opioid Overdose Prevention Initiatives
  • Opioids at the Health and Transportation Safety Nexus
  • Evaluation of State-Mandated Acute and Post-Surgical Pain-Specific Opioid Prescribing Guidelines
  • Medicaid Expansion and Deaths due to Opioid Overdose, Suicides, and Homicides among Formerly Incarcerated Persons
  • Policy evaluation of the NC Medicaid patient review and restriction (“lock-in”) program: examining impacts on opioid use disorder services and treatment
  • Chronic Pain Management, Opioid Misuse, and Risk of Blood-Borne Infections
  • Overdose Data to Action
  • Opioid Data Lab link opens new window

LEARN MORE ABOUT FEATURED OPIOID RESEARCH


OUR IMPACT

Governor Roy Cooper as Keynote Speaker
Governor Roy Cooper, Keynote Speaker

Developing a Research Agenda for Addressing the Opioid Crisis in North Carolina

Building on earlier outreach efforts in 2016 and 2017 to identify research priorities to respond to the opioid crisis, in May 2018, the IPRC and key partners, including the NC DHHS link opens new window, the NC Translational and Clinical Sciences (NC TraCS) Institute link opens new window, the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy link opens new window, and the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health link opens new window, convened more than 70 experts from state agencies, academic centers, and area businesses to operationalize a key step outlined in NC’s Opioid Action Plan: “…establishment of an opioid research consortium and a research agenda among state agencies and state institutions to inform future work and evaluate existing work.” The outputs from this event are being compiled into a report that will be shared with the Governor’s office. Keynote speakers: Governor Roy Cooper; Secretary of Health of NC, Dr. Mandy Cohen.

LEARN MORE ABOUT UNC IPRC’S IMPACT ON OPIOID MISUSE AND OVERDOSE PREVENTION


OUR STUDENTS AND FACULTY

Student-Led Research

IPRC is proud to support UNC students in conducting cutting-edge injury and violence prevention research, including the Opioid Student Research Group. This group aims to add to the knowledge base of opioid overdose prevention research and engage students, faculty, and staff in collaborative research or practice work related to opioid overdose prevention.


OUTREACH SPOTLIGHT

SHARP Network: Establishing a Peer-to-Peer Overdose Prevention Initiative across Central Appalachia by Building a Learning Network to Strengthen Harm Reduction Strategies

In collaboration with the NC Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (IVPB), the IPRC is implementing a multi-state Peer-To-Peer (“PTP”) overdose prevention initiative, called the SHARP (Sharing Harm Reduction Practices) Network that focuses on expanding and improving harm reduction strategies by convening stakeholders to identify promising and effective strategies to address the opioid epidemic and polysubstance use. This participatory process will identify: 1) existing coalitions, 2) local strategies that are effective or showing promise, 3) effective ways to document and disseminate information about what is working to prevent overdose in rural communities, and 4) methods that facilitate the adoption of effective strategies through networking and training. The PTP initiative will facilitate networking among public health programs and rural harm reduction practitioners to build a learning network to improve the use of harm reduction strategies to address the overdose epidemic. The initial phase of the project will focus on central Appalachia, one of the hardest hit parts of the country by the overdose epidemic.  For more information, contact Leah Taraskiewicz, Associate Director of Partnerships and Capacity Building.

LEARN MORE ABOUT UNC IPRC’S OUTREACH


KEY PARTNERS