Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome conference to be held Nov. 10 at Northern Kentucky University; it's free, but registration is required

Northern Kentucky University is hosting a conference Nov. 10 that will convene researchers from across the Ohio River together to discuss neonatal abstinence syndrome: addicted babies.

The conference, which organizers hope will be an annual event, will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. in Room 107 of the NKU Student Union in Highland Heights.

The conference will focus on evidence-based research into neonatal abstinence syndrome, with the hope of increasing collaboration among NAS researchers.

Vice News chart

As part of a series of stories on opioid addiction called A Nation in Recovery, Keegan Hamilton of Vice News writes that NAS "has overwhelmed the medical system, and many intensive care units for newborns are at capacity." The rate of babies being born with NAS has increased 400 percent since 2000, with one baby born with the syndrome every 25 minutes. In Kentucky, one out of every 50 newborns has NAS.

The keynote speaker for the conference will be Judith Feinberg, a professor of behavioral medicine and psychiatry at West Virginia University, who will present "The Opioid Epidemic: A view from the Belly of the Beast."

Other topics include the state of research on NAS, and what is left to find out; what communities can do about the opioid epidemic; and opioids through the eyes of a physician.

Sam Quinones, author of Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic, will wrap up the day in a conversation led by NKU Provost Sue Ott Rowlands. In a visit to the campus last year, Quinones challenged the region to develop collaborative efforts to battle the opioid epidemic.

"As part of the response to that challenge, NKU has been leading the effort in working with universities to establish ORVARC,” Rowlands said in a press release.

Quinones was the keynote speaker at the most recent Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky policy forum, where he talked about the importance of re-building communities as part of the ultimate solution to the opioid epidemic.

"Heroin is the perfect symbol for how isolated we have become as Americans, and how much we have killed off or ignored what would bring us together," he said. "I believe therefore more strongly than ever that the antidote to heroin is not Naloxone, it is community."

Registration for the conference is free, but required. Click here to register. Click here for the conference schedule.