ARI issues $100,000 Grant to Fund Youth Opioid Overdose Study | FIRST Ever Root Center Research Grant Recipient Selected

April 18, 2023

Our Advanced Recovery Institute, part of the Root Center for Advanced Recovery, is proud to provide $100,000 to UCONN to support the research project of Dr. Yifrah Kaminer for his study on: Youth Opioid Overdose: Implementing Overdose Suicide Risk Assessment Solutions. This grant is a first of its kind for Root Center, and we are thrilled that we are now able to support this academic research study to help advance research in mental health and addiction.


“This grant will hopefully establish a collaborative partnership between Root and The Department of Psychiatry at UConn Health,” said Dr. Kaminer. “This will be a research-based pathway for improvement of services. Our goal is to learn more about individuals, particularly adolescents, with substance use disorders, to mitigate complications, and in the most extreme outcomes, death.”

As the opioid epidemic continues to worsen, we at the Root Center know that this work is imperative. Our commitment is not only to patient care, but also to long-term success and solutions to try to alleviate this growing problem across our country.



“This study will help to address a critical gap in care for young adults with opioid use disorder who may be at higher risk for intentional or accidental overdose,” said Gabrielle Bostwick, Research Coordinator for Root. “Working closely with our clinicians and patients, the results of this study will be incorporated into our programs and help to identify young adults as high-risk for overdose and suicide.”

While the number of overdose deaths continues to increase, we are also starting to see younger age groups implicated in these harrowing statistics. “The ultimate goal, is to better understand the motivation and intention to prevent overdose among young adults with opioid use disorder (OUD),” said Bostwick.

“We are so proud and excited to play this integral role in not only supporting a local and prestigious academic institution such as UCCONN, but to also be a catalyst in moving such a key research endeavor from academia into Root. It is so inspiring,” said Steven Zuckerman, President and CEO of Root Center. “I also want to take the time to thank our Board of Directors who authorized use of our endowment to fund this first of its kind Root initiated research grant, without their continued support, this partnership would not have been possible.”

We look forward to following the progress of Dr. Kaminer and his UCONN research team and will keep you updated as the study evolves.


Congratulations again, University of Connecticut and Dr. Kaminer!

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