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To combat the opioid epidemic, associate professor Cody Wenthur of UW’s Pharmacy Practice and Translational Research Division has partnered with associate professor Jay Ford of UW’s Social and Administrative Science Division to launch the Wisconsin Opioid Overdose Response Center.
There have been 3,837 opioid related ambulance runs in Wisconsin so far this year, and 462 in August alone, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. The amount of deaths from opioid overdoses have been steadily increasing, with over 13 times more reported opioid deaths in 2022 than in 2000, according to DHS.
The OORC is a new initiative that will run out of UW’s School of Pharmacy.
“The Resource Center is a new initiative that we’re building here on campus as a way to try and leverage community pharmacy expertise to address the really high rates of opioid overdoses that we are seeing here in Wisconsin,” Wenthur said.
Ford said that pharmaceutically trained healthcare professionals have a major role to play in not only providing communities with proven solutions for opioid overdoses, but also in aiding in the development of the next generation of potential solutions.
The center will provide resources to community members — including students — experiencing substance use disorder through harm reduction services.
“So one of the things we want to try to provide out of the community is what we’re calling harm reduction services, making sure that individuals have access to fentanyl strips,” Ford said.
Additionally, the center plans to work with community pharmacies in an attempt to get naloxone — more commonly referred to as Narcan — out on the shelves statewide.
Short term goals for the center include the implementation of these harm reduction services, as well as expanding education on the topic of opioid use.
“Getting education in the hands of those who can make a difference in their local healthcare networks and their own communities,” Wenthur said.
The resource center only has sufficient funding to run from October 2024 to September 2025, so a long term goal is to identify ways to sustain the work Wenthur and Ford plan to do beyond the first year through potential donors or grants.
The center is also planning on improving screening and intervention initiatives as the opioid epidemic further evolves, Wenthur said, adding that preventative steps need to be taken sooner than later.
Opioids have progressed from heroin to prescription painkillers, followed by fentanyl and may soon include new classes of compounds such as nitazene and benzimidazole, according to Wenthur.
The OORC will offer opportunities for student involvement, but Wenthur encourages students to get involved in other ways as well.
“For undergraduates who are interested in getting involved with volunteering or research in this space, there is definitely opportunity within the School of Pharmacy to get involved, and not just initiatives related to opioids like this, but other clubs, programs, and initiatives focused on community health,” Wenthur said.
