FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 19, 2017
Contact: Leah C. Payne, Director of Public Affairs, Schools of Medicine & Pharmacy, 304-691-1713

School of Medicine department receives HRSA grant to develop educational tools to fight opioid crisis

HUNTINGTON, W.Va.—The department of family and community health at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine has received a $61,142 grant from the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) to develop educational initiatives to fight the opioid crisis in our region.

Department Chair Stephen M. Petrany, M.D., says the funding will augment the department’s current efforts to address the drug issue.

“This is a one-year offering that allows our team to expand upon its various efforts to assist in the fight against this terrible problem plaguing our region,” Petrany said.  “The grant will allow us to train future primary care physicians and physician assistants in the complex issues inherent to opioid addiction and its medical management.”

In addition to the department’s work, Marshall University, in totality, continues to address the issue on several levels. Last fall, President Jerome A. Gilbert created a new position and interdisciplinary coalition in addition to the university’s existing programs.  An individual for the newly created position, a director and professor of addiction sciences for the School of Medicine, is expected to be named this summer.  The university’s interdisciplinary coalition is led by three people; Dean Kevin W. Yingling, Marshall School of Pharmacy; Amy Saunders, who leads the university’s Student Health Education Programs; and Jim Johnson, who is the director of drug control policy for the City of Huntington.

###

Date Posted: Monday, June 19, 2017