Matthew Azimi, 36, overdosed on November 30, 2017, not in an abandoned house or some back alley, but in a faculty restroom at a special education high school in the Bronx where he taught.

​

His story may not fit the typical narrative of an overdose, but it adds to the statement that anyone can fall victim to addiction, and an overdose can take place anytime, anywhere. The cause of death was marked as an overdose of fentanyl, the potent synthetic additive that, in present day, is causing more deaths than heroin. Last June, four men were charged after nearly 100 pounds of fentanyl was seized by New Jersey State Police, which could have yielded more than 18 million lethal doses, enough to kill the entire population of New York City and New Jersey combined, according to foxnews.com.

​

Opioid overdose deaths raised 37 percent in 2016, leaving Pennsylvania at rank four in the nation. After the declaration of the opioid crisis as a disaster emergency by Governor Tom Wolf, Penn state held its first University-wide summit with the focus of the opioid epidemic in order to raise awareness and search for a solution.

​

Nearly 200 researchers, practitioners and educators from across the Penn State system were in attendance at the summit with the aim of developing a translational agenda with the goal of combating the opioid epidemic, according to Penn State news.

“The rapid growth and spread of the opioid epidemic and its tragic consequences demand our faculty’s best efforts. Our faculty can and will make a significant difference in addressing this alarming problem in Pennsylvania and beyond,” said Executive Vice President and Provost Nicholas Jones, according to Penn State news.

​

The summit was held by the Social Science Research Institute, director Susan McHale is noted saying “The summit was an opportunity for us to talk about our work and learn about one another’s expertise toward developing novel research and community collaborations and identifying a distinctive leadership role for the University in combating the opioid crisis.” The summit was co-sponsored by the Penn State Colleges of Agricultural Sciences, Education, Health and Human Development, Information Sciences and Technology, the Liberal Arts, Medicine and Nursing, among other independent programs and programs from other colleges and universities.

​

Featured at the summit were 14 talks by a range of attendees pertaining to the neuroscience of opioid addiction treatment outcomes, to estimating societal costs brought upon by the epidemic. In addition, “Other projects shared by Penn State researchers included identification of opioid trafficking networks, establishing community-university collaborations for prevention programs, building a state integrative data system to address policy questions, evaluation of state prescription drug monitoring programs, and more,” according to Penn State news. There were also roundtable discussion sessions focused around different topics of discussion relating to the epidemic including criminal justice, family and child welfare and addiction research.

​

The summit concluded with an announcement of funding supported by a number of institutes, with hopes to “increase the quantity and quality of interdisciplinary opioid research by Penn State faculty,” according to Penn State news.