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UNMC's new Nebraska Center for Substance Abuse Research

A new center at UNMC will promote and foster innovative multidisciplinary research in the field of substance abuse in Nebraska.

Dr. Shilpa Buch is the director for the Nebraska Center for Substance Abuse Research.  She says one of the goals of the center is to improve the treatment of substance abuse disorders. 

Buch says the center will engage in local and national collaborations, and offer local outreach to contribute to reducing these disorders in the state.

"We all know that drug abuse is a global burden.  And it’s not something that’s due to a character flaw in a person.  It’s actually a disease, a mental health disorder that is really escalating at a very high rate.”

Buch says prescription drug abuse has quadrupled since 1999.  Alcohol and drug abuse cost the economy hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare, crime and lost productivity. 

She says the center will focus on research aimed at improving the diagnosis and future treatments of substance abuse disorders.