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Harvard University has embarked on a new partnership with the University of Michigan to fight poverty in Detroit and share its knowledge on opioid addiction, schools said Wednesday.
The news of the partnership comes on the eve of Harvard President Lawrence Bacow's return to his hometown of Pontiac, Michigan on Thursday. He is also scheduled to speak Friday in Detroit at an event to welcome aboriginals in the area.
The new research partnership between Harvard, the University of Michigan and the City of Detroit aims to boost economic mobility and reduce poverty in the city, as well as the opioid crisis, schools said.
In a university press release, Bacow said he was delighted to partner with Michigan to address what he called "some of the most pressing issues of our time."
"Our teams will provide information on economic mobility and the opioid crisis, guided by research, and work with the mayor [Mike] Duggan and his team are trying to translate these ideas into action, "he said in the press release.
The project will be led by Harvard professors Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren, as well as other professors from Brown University and Michigan. It will build on other efforts by Duggan to focus on neighborhood revitalization, affordability of housing and youth.
"We are trying to make a comeback that includes all the Detroiters, and we welcome the support of these two prestigious institutions in this effort," said the mayor in the press release.
The collaboration will also build on the work already done by the Poverty Solutions team, a University of Michigan center working with the city. The Harvard faculty will provide expertise in the field of Big Data, according to the schools.
Researchers will use large sets of data and statistics to identify Detroit neighborhoods where children succeed or fail. They will combine this data with other data to try to determine what is happening in the neighborhoods and the reasons for the success or failure of the children.
The collaboration also comes less than a year after the University of Michigan and the city of Detroit began a four-year program that will provide up to $ 500,000 to promote economic mobility and poverty eradication.
Universities also plan to bring together experts from many disciplines, including government, medicine, public health, criminal justice and policy to address the growing epidemic of opioids in cities and rural areas. from the country.
Harvard and the University of Michigan plan to hold two summits to share their knowledge on what works in the fight against addiction. Discussions will focus on best practices in prescribing, prescription drug monitoring, overdose detection and access to treatment and criminal justice, according to the press release.
Harvard's work on opioid addiction will be led by Mary Bassett, a physician and recently appointed director of the Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard, T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
According to Harvard, Massachusetts and Michigan have some of the highest opioid-related death rates in the country. Michigan recorded 18.5 opioid-related overdose deaths per 100,000 population in 2016. For Massachusetts, the number was 29.7, according to Harvard.
Laura Krantz can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @laurakrantz.
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