The death of local doctor Todd Graham over the summer spurred South Bend’s doctors, law enforcement officials, politicians, and prosecutors to form the Michiana Opioid Task Force. Both Jessica Baron and Anna Geltzer sit on the task force’s Primary Prevention Committee as well as its Executive Committee.
Baron is also running an informal Notre Dame Task Force, so far comprised of sixteen (and growing!) students (many of them minors in the Reilly Center’s Science, Technology, and Values Program). The group is working closely with the local 525 Foundation and surgeons at Memorial Hospital to disseminate educational materials locally, including the promotion of local pill drops.
In Spring 2017, the STV program will offer a 1-credit reading group on the opioid epidemic. Stay tuned for more information about how the Reilly Center will play a role in local public health campaigns.