A federal grant will fund research at the University of Mississippi Medical Center to combat the ongoing opioid epidemic in America.
Awarded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the $663,080 grant will allow UMMC to continue their work researching deterrents to prescription opioid abuse.
“Opioid addiction, which too often starts with legitimate physician prescriptions, affects individuals and our overall society. The rise in fatal drug overdoses in Mississippi and across the United States tells us that deterrence research at UMMC should continue,” Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith said announcing the funds.
Overdoses rose throughout the pandemic as new CDC data shows a 30% increase in drug overdose deaths in the United States last year. The CDC National Center for Health Statistics report also showed a nearly 35% increase in such fatalities in Mississippi from December 2019 to December 2020.
Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations Subcommittee, said that the data underscores the need for the UMMC research.
The grant represents a continuation of funding for a UMMC research project started in 2015 and expected to extend through May 2026.
