Mission

Discovering pathways to abate and recover from the opioid crisis in Central Appalachia through community-engaged research.

• Encourage and facilitate regional research collaboration across institutions, states, and communities in Central Appalachia.

• Promote equity in research infrastructure among institutions, states, and communities in Central Appalachia in order to address discrepancies related to scientific resources, training, and experience.

• Produce new scientific knowledge that is meaningful and culturally relevant to opioid use disorder in Central Appalachia.

• Deploy a range of high-quality research methods and analyses to inform deficiencies in policy and practice that have a direct bearing on opioid use disorder in Central Appalachia.

• Rapidly disseminate ORCCA knowledge, information, and findings through a variety of methods appropriate for community members, local and state-level decision makers, practitioners, scientists, and others who address the problem and need to be informed.

• Apply knowledge gained to inform, grow, and improve workforce development in opioid use disorder and addiction.

• Train current and future researchers on opioid use disorder and addiction research, centered on community-engaged approaches.

• Train and empower community members as partners in research.