Volkow Honored at Rx Summit

Dr. Nora Volkow (l) receives the Beacon of Hope award from Rep. Hal Rogers.

Photo:  Office of Rep. Hal Rogers

The annual Rx and Illicit Drug Summit, now in its 14^th year, aims to find and implement strategies to prevent drug overdoses and deaths. Synthetic opioids, in particular, continue to claim the lives of tens of thousands of Americans each year.

At this year’s summit, held in April in Nashville Tenn., Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY) presented Dr. Nora Volkow, director of NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), with the Beacon of Hope award for her pioneering work on addiction and substance use.

A piece of hopeful news announced on the summit’s first day was that opioid overdose deaths have declined nationwide by nearly 25% over the past year, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya delivers remarks at the Rx Summit in Nashville.

Photo:  Office of Rep. Hal Rogers

Also on the summit’s first day, NIH Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya delivered remarks. He shared his vision for the agency and affirmed NIH’s commitment to continuing research that addresses the opioid crisis.

The Rx Summit brings together government officials, business leaders, doctors, pharmacists, therapists, social workers, law enforcement personnel and others who are committed to solving the opioid epidemic. This year’s summit convened more than 180 speakers and featured 160 breakout sessions allowing the many stakeholders to share strategies and discuss concrete ways to put them into action.

For information on NIH opioid research, see: https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/opioids.

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From left, Cynthia Doyle, wife of Rep. Rogers; Volkow; Rogers and Bhattacharya at the summit

Photo:  Office of Rep. Hal Rogers