University of Michigan Gets $2.5M to Study Opioid Epidemic, Other Injuries

The University of Michigan Injury Center has received $2.5 million from the Centers for Disease Control for research into the prevention of prescription drug overdoses, concussion, youth violence, motor vehicle crashes, sexual violence, falls and other injuries.

“Injury is the leading cause of death for people from 1 year old to 44 years old, with opioid overdose surpassing motor vehicle deaths in our state and across the nation,” says Rebecca Cunningham, M.D., director of the University of Michigan Injury Center and professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education.

The U-M Injury Center is one of only 10 nationwide funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that focuses on creating cutting-edge injury science and initiatives to prevent injuries. In addition, the centers translate proven programs to local and national communities while training the next generation of injury-prevention scientists and practitioners.

“Due to advances in the field of injury prevention, motor vehicle crash rates have fallen substantially since the 1970s,” Cunningham says. “The application of these same public health principles to other areas of injury, by multidisciplinary teams, can have a similar impact on other injuries that affect our communities daily. Like other states in the Midwest, Michigan has been significantly impacted by the opioid epidemic,” Cunningham says. “In fact, Michigan has experienced a 13 percent increase in drug overdose deaths in the past year. It has the 15th-highest rate of death due to drug overdose when compared to other U.S. states and the District of Columbia.”

In addition, injuries can be costly, with a price tag of more than $671 billion annually in costs for medical care and lost work, according to the CDC.

“And the tragic aspect of all of this is that most injuries are predictable and preventable,” Cunningham says. “Further, other injuries, such as those related to intimate partner and peer violence, are common across the state and nation.”

The center has more than 350 members from more than 20 institutions and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration.

The U-M Injury Center has completed several projects paving the way for injury research and prevention. These include hosting multiple conferences and trainings for stakeholders providing up-to-date information and guidance on injury best practices, developing an opioid prevention intervention tool, developing a clinical care program to prevent youth violence and collaborating with law enforcement to create a real-time opioid overdose surveillance system.

Topics Education Michigan Universities