BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Bowling Green State University will begin research on substance abuse in Ohio after receiving grant funding from the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE).
The total amount of grant money comes to more than $475,000, making it the second highest amount of funding behind Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus.
"The main goal is developing and constructing predictive analytics model on opioid abuse," BGSU Assistant Professor Jinha Lee said.
Specifically, the group will research the risk factors leading to substance abuse by looking at the socioeconomic factors driving addiction and how it affects communities.
"We immediately realized that this is something we can contribute, based on our expertise, to a problem that has been impacting the state of Ohio probably more than any other state," Business Professor Arthur Yeh said.
According to the professors, Ohio is the second highest state with opioid addiction behind West Virginia.
Data will come from local hospitals and health departments. In the end, it will allow the school to provide recovery strategies for both statewide and locally.
"Hopefully what we do with our project could help Ohio alleviate a lot of these opioid related problems," Yeh said.
In total, the ODHE gave out nearly $1.8 million in grants toward research of substance abuse issues in Ohio.
The hope is that this research will help provide better ways to help at risk and recovering Ohioans. BGSU was one of four universities throughout the state to receive the funding.