Michelle Lofwall, MD, is an opiate addiction researcher, clinical psychiatrist and professor at the University of Kentucky. In addition to seeing patients and training medical residents at an outpatient opioid addiction clinic, she conducts research related to improving resources and treatment options for opioid addicts.

Dr. Lofwall can comment on the following issues: -Heroin addiction as a disease: the psychological and physical effects of heroin use-The "opioid epidemic," in Kentucky and the United States (a four-fold increase in opioid overdose deaths in the past decade, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)-Socioeconomic factors related to heroin use-The disparity of treatment options and resources for heroin addicts in Kentucky, as well as other states-Evidence-based treatment solutions for heroin addiction -Kentucky Heroin Impact Act and other legislation aimed at the opioid problem

MEDIA CONTACT: Elizabeth Adams, [email protected]