Kennesaw State’s Wellstar School of Nursing Receives $1.2 Million Grant for Opioid Disorder Training
Monday, February 24th, 2025
As Georgia navigates a widespread opioid addiction crisis, researchers in Kennesaw State University’s Wellstar School of Nursing (WSON) are leveraging a $1.2 million grant to train budding nurses in addressing substance use disorders.
The researchers – Katherine Barnett, Susan Beidler, Ashley Barber and Lisa Reyes-Walsh – received the grant from the Georgia Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust (GOCAT) for their two-year project, “Nurses Learning About Opioid Use Disorder,” or Nurses LOUD.
The grant was made possible following a $636 million settlement reached with three pharmaceutical companies for their complicity in fostering the opioid abuse epidemic. In May 2023, Gov. Brian Kemp established the Georgia Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee, an eight-member committee that will advise GOCAT on the disbursement of funds. The first group of grantees, including two KSU projects, was announced in December 2024.
