Rhode Island Hospital Gets $12 Million Grant To Address Opioid Crisis

PROVIDENCE, RI — Rhode Island Hospital in Providence received a $12 million federal grant last month for efforts to address the opioid crisis, hospital officials said Tuesday.

The money funds the Rhode Island Hospital Center of Biomedical Research Excellence on Opioids and Overdose. The center, established in 2018 with $11.8 million in funding to address the nation’s opioid crisis, has received its second five-year grant award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).

Led by principal investigator Josiah Rich and Traci Green, the center partners with Brown University and The Miriam Hospital in Providence to grow and sustain a critical mass of investigators specializing in opioid use disorder.

"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," Rich said. "We are grateful to the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences for the support for this project and recognizing its importance in our communities."

Aside from COVID-19, the overdose crisis is the worst public health crisis in over 100 years, killing more than 100,000 Americans a year, hospital officials said. The center was the first NIGMS funded research center in the country with this focus.

"Far too many families in Rhode Island from all walks of life have been torn apart by the opioid epidemic," U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who authored the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, said. "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."

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