NIH, CDC Awards Dozens of Grants Nationwide to Stop Opioid Abuse

Los Angeles, California -

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have awarded several grants in a bid to stop opioid abuse across the country. The move is a part of a nationwide push to fund research targeting the opioid epidemic.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis received federal grants totaling more than $10 million to help them find solutions that will reduce the number of opioid-related deaths in the US.

The School of Medicine will direct the funds toward improving treatments for chronic pain; curbing rates of opioid overdose and opioid use disorder; helping patients achieve long term recovery from addiction; gaining a better understanding of why and among whom overdoses are occurring, and other efforts.

Among those receiving grants is Robert W. Gereau IV, Ph.D., Dr. Seymour and Rose T. Brown Professor of Anesthesiology at Washington University. He will be collaborating with John A. Rogers, Ph.D., a professor of biomedical and neurological engineering at Northwestern University.

The pair received a two-year, $4.2 million grant from NIH as part of the HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-Term) Initiative. They will develop an implantable device that would automatically deliver life-saving doses of the drug naloxone (Narcan) to people experiencing acute opioid overdoses.

The device would deliver naloxone to a person experiencing respiratory distress, which is the primary cause of overdose deaths. Gereau and Rogers envision the device as being implanted under the skin in people who have been treated for opioid use disorder or who have been incarcerated after abusing opioids.

“People in treatment for opioid addiction and those who have been incarcerated have a high risk of relapse,” said Gereau, who directs the Washington University Pain Center. “While Narcan can prevent deaths, it is not always readily available, and even if it is available, there is not always another person around to administer the medicine. This device could fill that void, helping to ensure that if a person relapses and gets into trouble, there would be a fail-safe way to deliver the drug that could save them.”

Also from the NIH HEAL Initiative, a second grant is providing more than $1.5 million to Gereau and colleagues at Vanderbilt University. This group is investigating ways to block a nerve cell receptor that Gereau’s laboratory has studied for many years. The receptor is known to interfere with the pain response. Drugs that interfere with that receptor potentially could provide sustained pain relief without causing the euphoric high that makes opioids so addictive.

Compounds aiming at interfering with this receptor have previously been developed, but none have made it through clinical trials. The new study will test new, highly selective modulators of that receptor, with the hope that it can identify painkilling compounds with much lower potential for abuse and misuse.

Another grant focuses on the impact of opioids on expectant mothers and their babies. Cynthia E. Rogers, MD, an associate professor of psychiatry and of pediatrics, and Christopher D. Smyser, MD, an associate professor of pediatric neurology, share the renewable, one-year $1 million planning grant with colleagues from Northwestern. The team will use advanced neuroimaging and clinical measurements to test the feasibility of assessing healthy brain development in infants compared to brain development in the babies of mothers who used opioids during pregnancy.

“Washington University neuroscientists and experts on substance use, child welfare, and maternal and child mental health will collaborate with experts in neuroscience, bioethics, pediatric population health, addiction and other specialties at Northwestern,” Rogers said. “Together, we hope to get a better handle on the impact of the opioid epidemic and the risk it poses to the health and development of children and families.”

If someone in the family is struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, it is important to seek help. A combination of medical detox and behavioral therapy can go a long way in the fight against drug abuse. But because every individual is affected by addiction differently, a comprehensive program tailored to their specific needs is necessary. Look for a nearby addiction treatment facility today and find out how drug treatment programs work.