University, UC Health to host Tristate Opioid Symposium

In response, the University of Cincinnati offers a wide range of research and community outreach. One key component is the UC/UC Health Opioid Task Force, which is hosting the Tristate Opioid Symposium, noon-4:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 25, at Kowalewski Hall.

“This will be the third symposia organized by the UC/UC Health Opioid Task Force,” says Neil MacKinnon, dean of the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy and task force co-chair. “It is part of our mandate for education and provides an opportunity for local faculty, clinicians, students, researchers and community groups to network and to learn from each other. An exciting addition this year is the inclusion of electronic poster presentations.”

Titled “Teaming Up to Take on the Opioid Epidemic,” the symposium features guest speakers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Johns Hopkins University and Bowling Green State University. The symposium will also feature abstracts from those doing novel research, clinical interventions, education and community outreach projects. Project abstracts must be submitted online by March 6.

“In prior years, participation and feedback from the symposia far exceeded our expectation,” says Melissa DelBello, the Dr. Stanley and Mickey Kaplan professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the UC College of Medicine, as well as task force co-chair. “This is a great opportunity for clinicians, students and researchers from the academic health center and the community to come together to discuss complex problems and solutions.”

The Opioid Task Force serves as the coordinating body for the opioid-awareness activities performed across the university and UC Health. The task force fosters enhanced collaboration through interprofessional research, education and practice and community outreach. In carrying out these complementary activities, UC and UC Health exemplify the critical role academic health centers play in effectively addressing a widespread public health emergency.

The symposium and task force are examples of the university’s commitment to urban impact, one of the pillars of UC’s strategic direction, Next Lives Here.

UC and UC Health integrates opioid addiction education into coursework in the Academic Health Center (AHC) colleges: College of Medicine, College of Nursing, College of Allied Health Sciences (CAHS) and the James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy. This strategy helps to ensure that all UC health professional students are equipped to address all aspects of opioid addiction.

Using a $1 million grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the CAHS has implemented an interprofessional “Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment” training course to students in the four AHC colleges, with hopes to expand this program to include law and criminal justice students in the future. Faculty from CAHS, Nursing and UC’s Fire Science program have collaborated with local fire departments in Colerain and Monroe, Ohio, and the Center for Addiction Treatment to educate students on how to link people with substance use disorders to social and health care services.

UC researchers in nonmedical colleges are also involved in this effort. Those include the College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services; the College of Engineering and Applied Science; the College of Arts and Sciences and College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP). For example, Claudia Rebola, graduate studies coordinator in DAAP, designed a device to make naloxone more accessible to those in need. An associate professor in DAAP’s Myron E. Ullman Jr. School of Design, Rebola has worked with graduate students to create AntiOD, a naloxone-dispensing smart device installed in semi-public places with step-by-step instructions for bystanders. Looking at a broader view of educating the public, Rebola’s team has also created an informational campaign to train the public on signs of an overdose and how to help.

Hendrée Jones, professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will open the symposium with "Caring for Pregnant and Parenting Women and Their Children: A Focus on Substance Use Disorder." Following that will be a presentation from Kelly Dunn, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University.

Jon E. Sprague, director and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation Eminent Scholar, Center for the Future of Forensic Science at Bowling Green State University, will deliver the keynote address. Sprague is also the director of science and research for the Office of the Ohio Attorney General.

A full symposium agenda can be found on the Opioid Task Force webpage.

Kowalewski Hall is located at 3255 Eden Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio. Limited paid parking is available in nearby Eden Garage. Carpooling and the use of UC campus shuttles is encouraged.