Arkansas Children’s and Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin provided an update on the 2023 announcement of the National Center for Opioid Research & Clinical Effectiveness (NCOR) on the Arkansas Children’s Hospital campus.
A new director, Dr. Alicia Allen, a distinguished behavioral epidemiologist and expert in opioid use disorder, has been hired to lead the organization.
NCOR will be a first-of-its-kind center dedicated to understanding the effects of the opioid crisis and other substance misuse on the fetus, newborns, developing children and adolescents, as well as pregnant and parenting individuals.
The 65,000-square-foot facility, part of Arkansas Children’s Research Institute (ACRI), will offer research and community outreach, aiming to empower affected families and improve health outcomes. The NCOR building will open in 2027, and research infrastructure development and outreach is accelerating.
“The opioid crisis has profoundly impacted Arkansas families, a reality we witness daily across our NICU, clinics and ER,” said Arkansas Children’s President & CEO Marcy Doderer. “By establishing this center, we are boldly advancing a healthier future for children across our region and nation. The brilliant capacity of our dedicated team, both current and future, will deliver a better today and healthier tomorrow for every child affected by this crisis.”
“In November 2023, I announced the establishment of the National Center for Opioid Research & Clinical Effectiveness (NCOR) at Arkansas Children’s in Little Rock. Now, nearly two years later, with $55 million in opioid and smokeless tobacco settlement funds committed by my office to the project, the center is beginning to physically take shape,” said Griffin. “I have greatly appreciated working with Arkansas Children’s, and I congratulate CEO Marcy Doderer on the hiring of Dr. Alicia Allen to be NCOR’s director. The work that Arkansas Children’s does across the state is phenomenal, and I can think of no better organization to take on this important work.”
The center will be anchored to maternal and child health with a focus on research, developing prevention and treatment programs, and community outreach and engagement.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin awarded the $75 million center $55 million of opioid and vaping settlement funds, allowing for ambitious and groundbreaking research, and a dedicated NCOR building on the Arkansas Children’s Hospital campus in Little Rock. Arkansas Children’s is investing the remaining $20 million to make the center possible.
DR. ALLEN’S CREDENTIALS
In naming, Alicia Allen, PhD, MPH, director for NCOR, she will provide leadership for the strategy and operations of NCOR. She previously served at the University of Arizona and is a behavioral epidemiologist with extensive expertise in opioid use disorder, particularly in women’s health and substance misuse during the perinatal period.
As the founder and director of the Recovery through Engaging and Empowering Women (RENEW) Research Team at the University of Arizona, Allen’s work integrated epidemiological and clinical trial methods to understand and address addiction in women of reproductive age.
Dr. Allen’s research aligns strongly with Arkansas Children’s mission, and at NCOR, she will help improve child health through maternal-focused interventions. Her work will address critical gaps in understanding how female-specific biological and psychosocial factors shape the course of opioid use disorder and its impact on families, with significant implications for both prevention and recovery.
Dr. Allen recently received the New Innovator (DP2) Award from the National Institutes of Health for her work exploring the role of hormones and infant caregiving activities on opioid misuse during the early postpartum period.
“The NCOR team is dedicated to reducing the stigma around opioid use disorder so that families feel empowered to seek treatment and sustain recovery,” Allen said. “NCOR’s research and community outreach will improve the trajectory of children’s health and give families a healthier tomorrow.”
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