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Mental Health... ADDICTION... Mental Health... ADDICTION...

100-Day Challenge Tackles Opioid
FAU Scientist’s $1.8 Million NIH
Crisis in Palm Beach County
Grant Will Focus Research on
Palm Beach County County had been estab-
leaders from non-profits, lished. In the new system, Chronic Pain, Addiction
for profits and govern- the team beat its goal of
ment have come together serving 125 people in 100
to address one of the days with treatment and/or
most urgent public certified recovery housing, Chronic pain and misuse of sub- lion a year in medical treatments and
health crises in recent serving 135. stances, including opiates, cocaine, lost productivity,” said Phillip
history—the opioid epi- The team also identified alcohol, and nicotine, are some of Boiselle, M.D., dean of FAU’s College
demic. critical points where indi- society’s most intractable problems of Medicine. “Dr. Toll’s ground-
Over the past three viduals, particularly those that account for tremendous health breaking work on the basic mecha-
years, Palm Beach without insurance or finan- care costs, in addition to incalculable nisms and the biochemical basis of
County has become an cial resources, fall through pain and suffering. A renowned sci- chronic pain and drug addiction
epicenter in the state for the cracks: entist at Florida Atlantic University’s have opened new avenues of research
the deadly opioid crisis. BY PATRICK • To relieve bottlenecks, a Schmidt College of Medicine has and identified novel drug targets to
The number of opioid- MCNAMARA new intake facility with 14 received a $1.8 million grant from address both of these disorders,
related overdose deaths beds was opened, and the the National Institutes of Health for a which have reached epidemic pro-
hit epidemic proportions local 211 agreed to serve as project titled, “Mixed NOP/MU portions.”
in 2016 with 571 lives lost and nearly a central call center, connecting those in Compounds and the Involvement of According to the Substance Abuse
600 more in 2017. While recent statistics crisis to the newly established system of Their Receptors in Analgesia.” and Mental Health Services
have finally started to show a downturn care and to detox and treatment facilities Lawrence Toll, Ph.D., principal Administration, about 115 million
in fatalities, the urgency and need for 24/7. investigator of the grant, a professor Americans age 12 and older misused
dramatic change remains. • The 100-Day team established of biomedical science in FAU’s prescription pain medicine in 2016.
Southeast Florida Behavioral Health Recovery Navigational Support (RNS), a College of Medicine, and a member In addition, about 948,000
Network (SEFBHN), Palm Beach recovery intervention designed to suc- of the FAU Brain Institute, has Americans or 0.03 percent of the
County’s regional managing entity for cessfully bridge clients from acute care to focused his research on the manage- population in the United States age
behavioral health, and Palm Health self-sustainable recovery. To do this, 14 ment of pain and drug addiction 12 and up used heroin in 2016. The
Foundation joined forces in February Recovery Navigators were trained and through pharmacology and new drug number of overdose deaths related to
2018 to engage over 30 county partners certified through a contract with discovery. He is internationally rec- heroin increased 533 percent
on a turbocharged, collaborative Recovery Outcomes Institute to develop ognized as the co-discoverer of the between 2002 and 2016, from an
approach to combat the opioid crisis. a peer workforce trained to deliver RNS endogenous neuropeptide, nocicep- estimated 2,089 in 2002 to 13,219 in
The vision was to unify fragmented silos to a group of qualified, Palm Beach tion, which plays a role in the regula- 2016.
into a comprehensive county-wide sys- County candidates. tion of reward and motivation path- “Through this National Institutes
tem of care for the addicted. • To ensure all individuals would have ways related to substance misuse and of Health grant and other collabora-
With support from the Hanley access to and benefit from RNS, the team in the regulation of pain pathways tions, we have identified novel com-
Foundation and Town of Palm Beach collaborated with 11 Certified Recovery from the spinal cord to the brain. pounds with high affinity to both
United Way, the partners employed the Residences to incorporate RNS into their With this latest National Institutes NOP and mu receptors with varying
Rapid Results Institute (RRI), an interna- residences. SEFBHN provided 100-Day of Health grant, Toll will continue to in vivo profiles,” said Toll. “These
tional non-profit known for its break- Challenge vouchers to help cover rent examine chronic pain-induced could potentially be used to treat
through approach to helping communi- costs for those who lacked insurance or changes in the NOP receptor in pain with a lower risk of abuse.
ties solve complex social challenges. RRI financial resources as they improved brain, spinal cord, and dorsal root Perhaps more interesting are our
conducted its unique 100-day challenge their employability. ganglia to understand how this studies demonstrating changes in the
process to turn the tide on the opioid “While the work goes on and there is relates to the development and treat- NOP system subsequent to chronic
epidemic. more to be done, this initiative has been ment of chronic pain. pain. These studies may demonstrate
With limited but pooled resources, the one bright light in a devastating health- “This National Institutes of Health cellular mechanisms for the transi-
challenge called on collaborative part- care crisis that has plagued South grant awarded to Dr. Toll will help to tion from acute to chronic pain and
ners to look at system gaps and put in Florida,” said Ann Berner, president and address the many challenges associ- identify selective NOP compounds as
safety nets where none existed, proac- CEO of SEFBHN. “The collaboration and ated with managing chronic pain, potential treatments for this condi-
tively connect the addicted with detox measurement systems deployed through which affects more than 100 million tion. This could greatly reduce the
services, treatment, and certified recov- the 100-day challenge helped us quickly Americans and costs about $600 bil- need for long-term opiate use.”
ery housing instead of returning them to identify where we needed to focus our
the streets, and open a new intake facility efforts to save lives and stem the opioid
instead of staring down a bottlenecked epidemic.”
waitlist. The collaborative is seeking ongoing
No part of the system was sacred and support to strengthen the much-needed
participating agencies were required to new system of care and provide sustain-
be nimble, cast aside the status quo, and ability for the long-term.
have brutally honest—and at times high-
ly charged —conversations. And they Patrick McNamara is President and CEO
had to do it all within 100 days. of the Palm Health Foundation. For more
The results? By the end of the 100 days information, call (561) 833-6333, email
on June 11, 2018, a new Safety Net PMcNamara@phfpbc.org or visit
Recovery System of care for Palm Beach www.palmhealthcare.org.

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