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BIDDEFORD, Maine

SWAGƵ pain and addiction research featured on front page of ‘Portland Press Herald’

SWAGƵ research on addiction and the development of less-addictive pain medications was highlighted in an August 13, 2015 article on the front page of the Portland Press Herald. Ed Bilsky, Ph.D., vice-president for Research and Scholarship, founding director of the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences and co-director of the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence for the Study of Pain and Sensory Function, was interviewed about his long career in pharmacology studying opiates and chronic pain.

The article highlighted the growing heroin epidemic, both in Maine and nationwide, stating that the number of heroin overdose deaths in Maine climbed from seven in 2011 to 57 in 2014.

Bilsky and a team of researchers from SWAGƵ and Southern Research in Birmingham, Alabama were recently awarded a five-year, $4.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Bilsky told the Press Herald that the research is both a valuable teaching tool for students and a crucial step in fighting addiction and chronic pain. “Every morning when I walk through this hallway and building, I remember that we are doing this for people,” Bilsky said.

SWAGƵ the SWAGƵ

The SWAGƵ is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.