Next week: Penn experts discuss ways to fix the opioid crisis

Philly has a very real problem with opioid addiction.

According to the CDC, opioid addiction is a driving factor in the rise in drug deaths overall. Some 91 Americans die everyday from an opioid overdose, a figure that has quadrupled since 1999.

Penn experts from a handful of science verticals will join a discussion Friday, Sept. 15 to present their latest findings about opioids and addiction. Here’s the lineup of experts:

• Dr. Peggy Compton: The van Ameringen Chair in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing and associate professor in the School of Nursing. Dr. Compton will discuss misconceptions about this prescription drug epidemic.
• Dr. Eliott Hersh: Professor in the School of Dental Medicine’s Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/Pharmacology. Dr. Hersh has performed FDA trials to test the efficacy and safety of non-opioid painkillers for use following dental surgery for more than 25 years.
• Dr. Kyle Kampman: Professor of psychiatry in the Perelman School of Medicine and medical director of the Penn Center for Studies of Addiction Dr. Kampman specializes in alcohol, cocaine, and opiate addiction treatment. He will discuss the challenges many patients face when trying to detox from opioids, the important need for medical support to ease withdrawal symptoms, and new strategies to help prevent relapse.
• Dr. Mary Robinson: Director of the Equine Pharmacology Laboratory at the School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Center and acting director of the Pennsylvania Equine Toxicology and Research Laboratory in the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Dr. Robinson studies the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of drug usage in horses.
• Dr. Jeffrey Saven: Professor in the School of Arts & Sciences’ Department of Chemistry. Dr. Saven’s work uses computational techniques to redesign the mu-opioid receptor, one of the human body’s most important receptors which is critical in the action of painkillers and anesthetics.

RSVP by Monday by emailing kbaillie@upenn.edu.