Feb. 1, 2026
Taking on Substance-Use Disorder from Every Angle
Pharmacy-led program’s reach is broad and deep.
TOPICS: Chronic Disease | Research | School of Pharmacy
Designs on Aging-Ready
By Lindy Kravec, adapted by Strategic Communications
Substance abuse has been plaguing people in the United States for more than 40 years. What started as a rise in cocaine and heroin use in the 1990s gave way to the overprescribing of opioid prescription drugs for pain relief and management in the early 2000s. During the past several years, despite a reduction in opioid prescribing, other factors such as the introduction of more potent, illegally produced synthetic substances like fentanyl have created new challenges and perpetuated the ongoing crisis.
From 1999 to 2023, approximately 806,000 people died from an opioid overdose. This includes overdose deaths involving prescription and illegal opioids. For every overdose that results in death, there are many more nonfatal overdoses, each one with its own emotional and economic toll. Not surprisingly, mental health conditions frequently coincide with addiction.
The center’s work spans 47 counties in Pennsylvania and four in Western Ohio.
The University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy is committed to changing that narrative with its Implementation and Research Center for Healthy Communities (IRC), led by Lucas G. Hill, associate professor in the School of Pharmacy. (An earlier incarnation of the center was known as the Program Evaluation and Research Unit.)
IRC is notable in its scope. The center’s work spans 47 counties in Pennsylvania and four in Western Ohio. Its experts work with urban and rural community members, health care professionals, including first responders, managed care organizations, criminal justice systems, veterans and universities.
At Pitt’s School of Medicine, for example, medication-assisted training is now part of the curriculum.
Trainers from IRC will instruct hundreds of medical students over a period of three years, preparing them to prescribe evidence-based medications and provide support services to people with opioid use disorder.
Building Healthy Communities
The Implementation and Research Center for Healthy Communities (IRC) at Pitt Pharmacy is more than 30 professionals working to confront substance use disorder and help community members live fuller lives. With expertise in research, social work, implementation science, data analysis and professional education, this team:
- Offers technical assistance to more than 200 Centers of Excellence for opioid treatment through special funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services
- Works in 47 Pennsylvania counties and four in Ohio
- Has instructed more than 5,000 EMS personnel and firefighters across Pennsylvania and Ohio via the Strategies to Coordinate Overdose Prevention through Emergency Medical Services
- Treats more than 20,000 patients across the commonwealth through its substance use disorder Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment program.