CDC director, Tulane alum to discuss opioid crisis

On Friday, April 20, the MD/MPH Program, co-sponsored by the Tulane schools of medicine and public health and tropical medicine, will host a presentation on the opioid epidemic by Debra Houry, MD, MPH, director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Houry is a 1998 graduate of Tulane School of Medicine and School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Her lecture, “Addressing the Opioid Epidemic: Providers on the frontlines of medicine and public health,” reflects her experiences leveraging her combined degree training at Tulane and helping lead the CDC’s response to the opioid crisis.

The lecture takes place in Diboll Auditorium at 1440 Canal St., from noon to 1:30 p.m., and is free and open to Tulane staff, faculty and students. A reception will follow in the Diboll Gallery.

“For every one person who dies of an opioid overdose, over 60 more are already addicted to prescription opioids.”

Debra Houry, MD/MPH

“We embrace the opportunity to ‘showcase one of our own,’ who is applying her combined MD/MPH training at Tulane to address a critical public health and clinical issue — the opioid crisis. She is a role model for and an inspiration to not only our MD/MPH students but others at Tulane and beyond who utilize interdisciplinary training and expertise to ‘make a difference’ in the lives of others,” said Tonette Krousel-Wood, MD, MSPH, associate dean for the MD/MPH program.

Houry is an emergency medicine physician whose research has included injury and violence prevention and the interface between emergency medicine and public health. Last year she testified before the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee’s “Federal Response to the Opioid Crisis” hearing.

“For every one person who dies of an opioid overdose, over 60 more are already addicted to prescription opioids,” she told the committee, “almost 400 misuse them, and nearly 3,000 have taken one.

“CDC’s expertise as the nation’s public health and prevention agency is essential in reversing the opioid epidemic. CDC has the unique role of leading prevention by addressing opioid prescribing, tracking trends and driving community-based prevention activities,” she added.

For more information, contact the MD/MPH program at mdmph@tulane.edu or 504-988-7055.