Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin commits $50 million to new national pediatric opioid research center at Arkansas Children's

Attorney General Tim Griffin announced a $50,000,000 commitment from opioid settlement funds to help establish the National Center For Opioid Research and Clinical Effectiveness (NCORE) at Arkansas Children's, part of a broader roughly $70,000,000 initiative that includes a more-than-$20,000,000 investment from the Arkansas Children's Research Institute.

Griffin said he set up a written application and review process in his office for awarding settlement dollars and that, while the state and local governments have used portions of their settlements for smaller grants and supplies, he wanted to invest in lasting research infrastructure that will outlive the initial funds. "If you're going to be national, you need brick and mortar," Griffin said, arguing a national center will better position Arkansas to win federal grants and recruit top researchers.

Marcy Doterer, president and CEO of Arkansas Children's, said the center will focus on understanding the impact of the opioid crisis on fetuses, newborns and children and on expanding prevention and treatment interventions. Doterer cited a Journal of Pediatrics study finding pediatric poisoning deaths were the leading cause of death for the youngest children between 2005 and 2018 and described pediatric opioid exposure as an urgent, preventable form of child mortality.

Dr. Rick Barr, executive vice president and chief clinical and academic officer at Arkansas Children's, outlined NCORE's three aims: build a 45,000-square-foot facility with a nationally recognized brain imaging center, a clinical research unit, advanced analytics and telehealth capabilities; lead pioneering research to improve detection and treatment of opioid exposure in children and develop community engagement models for adolescent prevention; and conduct longitudinal studies using genomics, proteomics and related methods to assess developmental and behavioral outcomes after prenatal and neonatal opioid exposure.

Doterer said construction is expected to begin in the area near the Arkansas Children's Research Institute in late 2024 and invited partners and donors to join the effort. Griffin said he would deliver the first payment of his $50,000,000 commitment at the event. The announcement frames the center as a statewide resource intended to attract federal funding and augment Arkansas's capacity to study and treat the effects of opioid exposure on children.

The participants emphasized partnership: Griffin noted separate $140,000,000 settlement allocations for cities and counties (before attorney fees) and Arkansas Children's described collaborations through the Arkansas Children's Nursery Alliance and other statewide hospital partners. No formal vote or legislative action was associated with the announcement; it was an executive funding commitment and institutional investment announced publicly.