Texas A&M Health research team receives $25M to fight the opioid crisis facing Texas schools

An interdisciplinary research team at the Texas A&M University Health Science Center (Texas A&M Health) has begun work to transform opioid misuse prevention education in Texas schools, following the April 1 execution of a grant of up to $25 million from the Texas Opioid Abatement Fund Council (OAFC or the Council).

OAFC unanimously voted during an open session on Jan. 8 to award the three-year grant to researchers from the Texas A&M Center for Community Health and Aging at the Texas A&M School of Public Health and from the Texas A&M Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy to offer state-wide opioid use prevention and awareness programing for students from kindergarten through 12th grade. The grant charges researchers to provide “student education, upstream interventions, and community engagement and public awareness activities,” as described in a press release by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts on Jan. 10.

Entitled, “Texas Opioid Prevention for Students (TOPS),” the team’s selected proposal marks both a new beginning and the culmination of years of work, according to Principal Investigator Ninfa Peña-Purcell, PhD, MCHES, research scientist at the Center for Community Health and Aging.

“Our work is about giving youth the resources they need to choose healthier paths,” Peña-Purcell said. “This funding represents an urgent call to action, and we are fully accountable for turning it into meaningful, measurable change. When we invest in our youth, we invest in a more hopeful and resilient future.”

For more than five years, Peña-Purcell has worked to lay groundwork for a comprehensive, statewide response to the opioid crisis alongside co-leads Joy Alonzo, MEng, PharmD, clinical associate professor at the Rangel College of Pharmacy and co-chair of the Texas A&M Opioid Task Force, and Marcia G. Ory, PhD, PhD, Regents and Distinguished Professor of environmental and occupational health at the School of Public Health and co-chair of the Opioid Task Force.

“This isn’t just the start of a new program—it’s the culmination of years of listening, learning and serving alongside Texas communities,” Peña-Purcell said. “We’ve been preparing for this moment, and now we’re ready to deliver.”

With funding secured, Ory said the team has accelerated efforts to lay the operational foundation of TOPS and to raise awareness across the state. They have been working around the clock to build infrastructure and define the processes needed for a quick, effective launch.

“This issue can’t wait,” Ory said. “We’re ready, and we’re moving with purpose to deliver prevention strategies that matter right now.”

Responding to a growing crisis

Following an increase in opioid medications prescriptions in the 1990s, opioid-involved overdose deaths in the United States doubled from 1999-2010, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service. From 2018-2022, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported an increase of more than 75 percent of drug poisonings, leading to a death rate of 15.8 deaths per 100,000 Texas residents.

TOPS seeks to address the burgeoning issue of youth opioid misuse in Texas, placing specific focus on illicit fentanyl exposures. While adult overdose rates have flattened recently in the United States, youth overdose rates have tripled year over year, every year since 2019—a challenge further complicated by the broad spectrum of individuals impacted by opioid misuse, said Alonzo. Those affected include honor roll students, athletes, and individuals from a wide array of socioeconomic backgrounds.

“Opioid misuse doesn’t just affect one group—it impacts students from all backgrounds,” Alonzo said. “That’s what makes prevention so complex from a public health standpoint. Our interventions can’t focus on a single demographic; they must reach and resonate with every student.”

Taking a multifaceted approach to opioid misuse education and prevention, the team will implement Think Smart, an innovative, life skills-focused prevention education curriculum. Technical support will be provided, allowing schools to tailor the program to meet student needs. Alongside Think Smart, two youth centric resources will be offered to flexibly reinforce prevention education concepts. Split Second, a graphic novel written “for kids, by kids,” and Trust Hustle, a mobile app that helps students practice refusal skills both individually and together, will round out the program’s strategy for helping students avoid illicit drug use and misuse. Alonzo said these platforms will serve as tools to help youth more fully conceptualize the possible real-world consequences of opioid misuse and opioid use disorder.

“What’s it like to have your best friend overdose in front of you?” Alonzo said. “What’s it like to survive? What’s it like to be a minor who is justice-involved? What’s it like to go through opioid use disorder treatment as a kid? What’s it like to have to be enrolled in medication-assisted treatment and   psychosocial support for the next 18 months? What is that like when you’re 15 or 16 years old? That’s the impact of the opioid crisis that no one talks about—no one.”

Engineering a comprehensive approach

Despite the challenges, addressing the youth opioid crisis is critical for the health of Texas communities. And Ory said Texas A&M University is uniquely positioned to undertake a project of this magnitude.

“The Texas A&M team was chosen because it has the infrastructure to support this endeavor,” Ory said. “We have the scientific and clinical expertise. We also have the connections with treatment providers, resources and partners who are boots on the ground in highly impacted communities across the state.”

Peña-Purcell said these resources and connections made Texas A&M a natural fit to execute the grant.

“The state committed $25 million over three years, because they recognized that the opioid crisis demands comprehensive, collaborative action,” Peña-Purcell said. “And that’s exactly what we bring to the table.”

The team is tapping into the Texas A&M infrastructure, pooling expertise from across the Texas A&M System with experts hailing from health sciences to engineering. Ory said the scale of the opioid crisis necessitates a comprehensive approach.

“The problem is too big,” Ory said. “It’s not going to be solved with just a single, one-dimensional approach. That’s why the state dedicated this huge amount of money, recognizing that this emergency would need a big solution. And we have the capabilities to take immediate action.”

As the TOPS infrastructure unfolds over the course of its three-year commission, the robust resources and statewide partnerships fostered at Texas A&M are empowering the team to pioneer a groundbreaking data-management system. They have partnered with Keith Biggers, PhD, director of the Texas A&M Center for Applied Technology within the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES), to build TAMU Insights. The new, geospatially enabled database management and analytics platform promises to revolutionize data-driven decision making while offering heightened transparency and accountability.

Traditional database management systems document and organize data. TAMU Insights will do that and more, providing near real-time, map-based visualizations of how and where interventions are being deployed across Texas. By integrating publicly available data streams like community vulnerability indices, demographic indicators and opioid-related risk factors, the platform will allow end users, including key decision makers, to monitor the progress and impact of TOPS initiatives.

“This isn’t just a database—it’s a strategic tool,” Alonzo said. “We’re building a system that can help us visualize our statewide impact, so we can monitor trends, respond to local needs and demonstrate effectiveness in a way that’s never been done.”

A public-facing interface will allow TAMU Insights to offer accessible, real-time snapshots of outreach and engagement, Alonzo said. The increased visibility will create a veritable map of TOPS progress across Texas.

“Our goal is to create interventions that truly make a difference,” Alonzo said. “TAMU Insights gives us the power to show that impact—not years later, but as it’s happening—because the people of Texas deserve results they can see and trust.”

Inspiring community investment

Peña-Purcell said the team shares a deep commitment to honoring the lives lost to the opioid crisis by focusing on prevention and youth empowerment across Texas. Their work, she said, is about more than intervention programming and data collecting—it’s about giving the next generation the tools to choose healthier paths.

“This funding represents an urgent call to action, and we are fully accountable for turning it into a meaningful, measurable change,” Peña-Purcell said. “When we invest in our youth, we invest in a more hopeful and resilient future.”

Despite the team’s depth of expertise, Peña-Purcell stressed that meaningful change will require widespread community collaboration.

“This is work we’re honored to lead, but we can’t do it alone,” Peña-Purcell said. “Preventing opioid misuse among students takes an all-hands-on-deck approach—families, educators, community leaders—everyone has a role to play.”

To foster that shared commitment, the TOPS team will host town halls and stakeholder partnership meetings to inform and engage with local communities. Community members and school district representatives will be invited to ask questions and learn more about how they can deploy TOPS initiatives to benefit Texas youth.

Pilot implementations in select school districts could begin as early as this spring, Ory said.

Essential insights from these early implementation efforts assist the team in further refining materials and engagement strategies for the statewide rollout, Peña-Purcell said. And ongoing input from schools, families and community members will provide crucial direction for long-term implementation.

“We recognize that each community is unique, and we’re prepared to adapt,” Peña-Purcell said. “Our commitment is not only to evidence-based programming, but also to being responsive—flexible, nimble and open to pivoting when needed—so we can discover what truly works in local contexts.”

TOPS reflects that adaptability throughout its design, from youth life-skills development efforts to peer-led prevention initiatives, as it also incorporates community-based outreach to ensure programming resonates effectively with the youth and communities of Texas.

“This isn’t just about research—it’s about translating knowledge into meaningful, sustainable impact,” Peña-Purcell said. “My career has always been rooted in community outreach. I’ve spent years listening to and learning from communities. Our team brings not just academic expertise but a deep understanding of the value of connection and trust. That’s what makes this work powerful—and personal.”