Nearly a decade ago, it was a small conference about an issue only starting to come out of the shadows of stigma and shame – the growing epidemic of opioid addiction and substance abuse disorder.

As the chair of the department, Dr. Roger Humphries has implemented policies and programs to help address the needs of the 350 to 400 patients they see per day who are affected by complications related to opioid use disorder.

When the Kentucky Cabinet for Family and Health Services put out a call for ideas to improve access to evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD), Drs. Laura Fanucchi, Michelle Lofwall and Sharon Walsh submitted a proposal.

The four-year, more than $87 million study has an ambitious but profoundly important goal: reducing opioid overdose deaths by 40 percent in 16 counties that represent more than a third of Kentucky’s population.

The University of Kentucky is a place defined by its people. This Wednesday, April 17, our community will band together during our first “One Day for UK,” a 24-hour day of giving. As part of the campaign, UK Research is raising money for the Healthy Kentucky Research Building Fund.

A research facility expressly devoted to addressing and eradicating the state’s most significant health disparities was opened September 21st by the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, President Eli Capilouto and many of the Commonwealth’s leading policymakers.