Notre Dame to convene federal, state and nonprofit leaders to address national opioid crisis
Across the United States, the opioid epidemic has devastated communities as opioid-related deaths have skyrocketed. According to data from the National Vital Statistics System and the CDC Wonder Database, the opioid death rate rose by 2,473 percent between 1979 and 2022.
To hold drug manufacturers and distributors accountable for the rise in fatalities, states and local political subdivisions brought lawsuits against major pharmaceutical distributors, manufacturers and pharmacy chains, reaching settlements that total nearly $50 billion to date.
The National Opioids Settlement and other settlement agreements have created a sense of hope for families and communities affected by the opioid crisis and provided a profound opportunity for states across the nation to begin to repair the damage the epidemic has wrought.
On Aug. 5-6, the University of Notre Dame will convene A Pathway to Hope: Summit on the National Opioids Settlement to bring together elected officials, academic researchers and other federal, state and nonprofit organization leaders from across the country to discuss and develop evidence-based strategies to most effectively distribute the opioid lawsuit settlement funds. The summit’s presentations will focus on framing the overall opioid crisis, its impact on communities and families, and potential solutions backed by evidence. The goal is to find ways to maximize the funds’ impact on the families and communities affected by the opioid crisis.
Led by Notre Dame’s Poverty Initiative, the summit will explore how evidence-based practices can inform decisions and ensure that settlement funds best help the victims.
“A primary goal of the Poverty Initiative, which launched last fall, is to bring faculty together with policymakers, philanthropists and providers to discover new pathways to break the cycle of poverty,” said economics professor Jim Sullivan, who also serves as the director of the Poverty Initiative and the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities.
“The Pathway to Hope Summit embodies that mission as the University will convene some of the nation’s leading experts to find solutions to the opioid crisis that has afflicted families all across this country.”
Sullivan and his team expect one unique outcome of the summit to be a co-created research agenda led by Notre Dame faculty to work with people on the frontlines to ensure the approaches are accurate, scalable and effective.
The Pathway to Hope Summit is an invitation-only event. More information is available at pathwaytohope.nd.edu.
Contact: Sue Ryan, Executive Director of Media Relations, sue.ryan@nd.edu; 269-377-5983
Tracy DeStazio, Associate Director of Media Relations, tdestazi@nd.edu; 269-769-8804
Brandi Wampler, Associate Director of Media Relations, brandiwampler@nd.edu; 574-248-0428
Latest ND NewsWire
- Notre Dame celebrates new pope; Father Dowd offers prayersRev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., president of the University of Notre Dame, offered his prayers for Pope Leo XIV, elected by the College of Cardinals today in Vatican City as the 267th pontiff of the Catholic Church.
- Collaboration with National Education Equity Lab to Create Pathways to Notre DameA group of campus units led by Notre Dame Learning’s Office of Digital Learning are building a pathway to the University for students who might not otherwise envision themselves as candidates to attend. It is an initiative made possible through a collaboration with the National Education Equity Lab, which partners with top universities to deliver actual college credit-bearing courses and supports to scholars in low-income high school classrooms across the nation.
- Clare Cullinan named valedictorian, Bennett Schmitt selected as salutatorian for the Class of 2025Clare Cullinan of South Bend, Indiana, has been named valedictorian and Bennett Schmitt from Jasper, Indiana, has been selected as salutatorian of the 2025 University of Notre Dame graduating class. The 180th University Commencement Ceremony will be held May 18 (Sunday) in Notre Dame Stadium for graduates and guests. During the ceremony, Cullinan will present the valedictory address, and as salutatorian, Schmitt will offer the invocation.
- Notre Dame’s Fightin’ Irish Battalion receives Department of Defense award as nation’s top Army ROTC programThe United States Department of Defense honored the University of Notre Dame’s Army ROTC Fightin’ Irish Battalion as the nation’s top Army collegiate program for the 2023-24 academic year. This will be the first time the unit has received the department’s Educational Institution Partnership Excellence Award, which recognizes the program’s achievements in recruiting, educating, training and commissioning leaders of character to be the next generation of military officers.
- In memoriam: Karl Ameriks, the McMahon-Hank Professor of Philosophy EmeritusKarl Ameriks, the McMahon-Hank Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, died on April 28 from pancreatic cancer. He was 77. Born in post-World War II Germany, Ameriks’ family emigrated to the United States when he was a child, and he grew up in Detroit, Michigan. He received his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees from Yale University. He came to the Department of Philosophy at Notre Dame in 1973 during a formative time for the department, which had transitioned from a predominantly Thomist focus to the more analytical American philosophy in the 1960s.
- Senior James Reintjes named 2025 Yenching ScholarUniversity of Notre Dame senior James Reintjes has been named a 2025 Yenching Scholar. He is one of 114 Yenching Scholars overall, representing 40 countries and regions around the globe. He is Notre Dame’s 12th Yenching Scholar and its 9th since 2018.
