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How Local Colleges Are Helping Fight Heroin

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The inaugural Ohio River Valley Addiction Research Consortium Conference takes place November 10 at NKU.

This Friday, November 10, Northern Kentucky Universitywill host the inaugural conference of the Ohio River Valley Addiction Research Consortium (ORVARC). The conference will focus on evidence-based research on neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).

The idea for the Consortium came from a column written by Sam Quinones, author of "Dreamland." Quinones suggested colleges and universities in the Ohio River Valley find ways to collaborate on research to address the epidemic and its many challenges.

ORVARC’s mission is to increase collaboration among researchers, regardless of institutional and disciplinary boundaries, in an effort to address opioid addiction in the Ohio River Valley.

Joining us to discuss the Ohio River Valley Addiction Research Consortium are NKU Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Sue Ott Rowlands; Neonatologist Dr. Kathy Wedig, director of Cincinnati Children's Neonatal Followup at TriHealth and the co-founder of the Neonatal Abstinence Clinic at Cincinnati Children's; Margo Spence, president and CEO of First Step Home; and journalist and author Sam Quinones.

The Ohio River Valley Addiction Research Consortium Conference takes place Friday, November 10, from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. at the NKU Student Union, room 107. The conference is free but registration is required. For more information, click here.

"Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic" by Sam Quinones provides a detailed look at the opiate epidemic devastating much of America today. Mr. Quinones tracks the origins of the heroin crisis, the dramatic growth of opiate abuse and its tragic devastation.