As an interactive activity, the Advancement of Neuroscience at UTK will host Metro Drug Coalition for a training workshop on how to properly administer naloxone (aka Narcan) to an individual experiencing an opioid overdose. This training will include a lecture on the interactions of opioids with the body and how to properly respond to emergency situations. Additionally, participants will have the opportunity to administer a model cartridge of Narcan to a test dummy!

Metro Drug Coalition (MDC) is a nonprofit organization striving to create a healthy and safe community, free of substance misuse. Having served the Knoxville community for 38 years, MDC seeks to increase access to evidence-based prevention education, harm reduction programs and recovery support services for anyone desiring to maintain or seek a life free from substance misuse. Through community collaborative efforts, MDC believes that joint action can all strengthen families and prevent future generations from the devastating consequences of addiction.

Brain Awareness Week is an annual event held during the second week of March and organized by the Dana Foundation to recognize innovations and exciting topics in neuroscience. Each year, organizations across the world center their own Brain Awareness Week around various themes. Thus, the Advancement of Neuroscience at UTK has decided to develop programming around the neurological basis of addiction and its greater implications in the greater Knoxville community, providing a series of workshops, guest lectures, and social events to bring light to this issue.