JOHNSON CITY — East Tennessee State University and other local organizations are confronting the opioid epidemic that has swept the Central Appalachian region in recent years.

Angela Hagaman will discuss some of these initiatives in “Responding to the Opioid Epidemic in Central Appalachia: Evidence, Partnership and Innovation,” a free public talk in the “Women on Wednesdays” lecture series at ETSU.

Sponsored by the university’s Women’s Studies Program, the lecture will be held Nov. 6 at noon in the Reece Museum.

Hagaman is the operations director of ETSU’s Center for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment, whose mission is to partner with affected communities in Central Appalachia to advance the science of substance abuse prevention and treatment.

Hagaman will provide a summary of ETSU’s response to the opioid epidemic across the region along with other innovative public health approaches used to address social determinants of health or the “root causes.” Her talk will include stories, research data, and clinical symptoms of opioid use to accurately illustrate the complexity of this epidemic.

In addition to her position at the Center for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment, Hagaman is a licensed professional counselor associate and is currently pursuing a doctorate in public health at ETSU. She also coordinates a number of community-based prevention initiatives, including targeted outreach to the business community, active engagement with anti-drug coalitions and implementation of continuing medical education events.

The “Women on Wednesdays” series is designed to raise awareness about the research, scholarship and community engagement conducted by women at ETSU; to provide a venue where women on campus and in the community can discuss and support each other’s work; and to give students an opportunity to meet faculty who could become mentors for their studies.

For more information, call Dr. Phyllis Thompson, director of Women’s Studies, at 423-439-4125. For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at 423-439-8346.