PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island Hospital received a $12 million federal grant on Sept. 8 to continue The Center of Biomedical Research Excellence on Opioids and Overdose, the hospital announced Tuesday.
This is the center’s second five-year grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences since it was established in 2018 with the support of $11.8 million funding to address the country’s opioid crisis. The COBRE on Opioids and Overdose was also the first NIGMS funded research center with this focus.
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“Far too many families in Rhode Island from all walks of life have been torn apart by the opioid epidemic,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. “Rhode Island Hospital’s Center of Biomedical Research Excellence is leading the nation in research to end the overdose crisis, and this federal funding will allow that life-saving work to continue.”
Aside from the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid crisis is the worst public health crisis in over 100 years, killing more than 100,000 Americans a year, according to a news release.
Within Rhode Island, the number of accidental drug overdoses has stayed at ‘crisis levels’ with 435 deaths reported in 2021 and 434 deaths in 2022, which was one of the highest rates per capita in the U.S., according to data from the R.I. Department of Health. The highly potent opioid, fentanyl, is also a growing concern as data shows it was involved in approximately 75% of the overdose deaths in the state in 2022.
“The purpose of the center is to bring together leaders across institutions to support the research we need to address the rapidly evolving opioid and overdose crisis with science, community, compassion, and high impact,” said Dr. Josiah Rich, director of The COBRE on Opioids and Overdose. “We are grateful to the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences for the support for this project and recognizing its importance in our communities.”
Rich, who serves as principal investigator, leads The COBRE on Opioids and Overdose along with co-director Traci Green. The center plans on continuing to partner with Brown University and The Miriam Hospital to grow and keep a group of investigators that specialize in opioid use disorder.
“We’ve spent the first five years of the COBRE seeding a center with supports that can help the community and our junior scientists address the evolving crisis. In its next five-year phase, we aim to tighten those ties to science and community and meet the entrenched and new challenges of the opioid crisis like the need for widely available, effective treatment, housing instability, the rise in stimulant use, and xylazine.” Green said.
To learn more about the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Opioids and Overdose, visit their website: https://opioidcobre.org/.
