September 7, 2017
Mai Tuyet Pho, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Chicago, has been awarded a UG3 from NIDA/CDC/SAMHSA to study the opioid crisis, along with Hepatitis C and HIV in the rural southern Illinois Delta Region. This is a multiple-PI grant and includes the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), Southern Illinois University (SIU) School of Medicine, and the National Development and Research Institutes (NDRI) in New York.
Dr. Pho has been a member of the Illinois statewide opioid advisory taskforce, and has been working with the IDPH to issue a statewide standing order for naloxone. She has been analyzing overdose data for the IDPH and IDHS.
On September 6, 2017, Governor Rauner of Illinois signed the executive order at Chicago’s Lawndale Christian Health Center to establish the taskforce.
Here is WGN coverage of Governor Rauner signing the order.
Here is the Opioid Action Plan from the Illinois Department of Public Health.