Drug Safety
Drug safety can be defined in many ways.
A lab specialist may define drug safety as the benefit-risk assessment of new medications.
A community health educator may define drug safety as safe storage and disposal of over-the-counter or prescription drugs.
A medical doctor may define drug safety as the proper use of prescription medications.
A substance abuse counselor may define drug safety as avoiding the dependency on drugs.
All these definitions of drug safety have a common goal – keeping all people, of all ages, safe from potential adverse effects of over-the-counter medications, prescription medications, or illicit substances.
In the state, the number of opioid-related overdose deaths increased by 245% from 2010-2017. In recent years, Georgia also experienced an increase in heroin and fentanyl-involved overdose deaths1.
Join Us
Drug Safety Task Force
The IPRCE Drug Safety Task Force has a central focus on ending the opioid epidemic in Georgia.
The task force objectives are to identify data sources and analyses that provide accurate information on drug-related injury and death in Georgia and develop an action plan with the input of our community partners and stakeholders.
Task Force Impact
Members of the IPRCE Drug Safety Task Force contributed to the Georgia Department of Health Multi-Stakeholder Opioid and Substance Use Response Plan
Nicholas Giordano, PhD, RN - Assistant Professor, Emory School of Nursing
| Name | Role | Organization | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bianca Anderson | Opioid Program Evaluator | Georgia Department of Public Health | |
| Bruce Jeffries | Deputy Director | Georgia Department of Public Health | |
| Ashish Advani | Founder | InpharmD | |
| Maneesha Agarwal | Assistant Professor | Emory School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Atlanta | |
| Rana Bayakly | Chief Epidemiologist | Georgia Department of Public Health | |
| Larry Braden | Owner | Lacey Drug | |
| Lawrence Bryant | Opioid and Substance Use Disorders Specialist | Capella University | |
| Jennifer Burkholder | Deputy Chief Nurse | Georgia Department of Public Health | |
| Hannah Cooper | Associate Professor | Emory Rollins School of Public Health | |
| Jessica Davis | Director of Federal Affairs | Emory University Government and Community Affairs | |
| Laura Edison | Epidemiologist | Georgia Department of Public Health /CDC | |
| Andy Gish | Overdose Prevention Educator | Georgia Overdose Prevention | |
| Stephanie Gitukui | Public Health Analyst | HIDTA, Georgia Department of Public Health | |
| Nicholas Heaghney | Opioids Compliance Specialist | Georgia Department of Public Health | |
| Jennifer Hogan | Disaster Preparedness Coordinator | Georgia Division of Aging Services | |
| Monica Nandan | Director of Strategic Partnerships and Social Impact | WellStar College of Health and Human Services | |
| Mahwish Javed | Program Coordinator | Safe Kids Georgia | |
| Jayani Jayawardhana | Associate Professor | University of Georgia, Clinical & Administrative Pharmacy | |
| Jerry Kalangara | Assistant Professor | Emory School of Medicine | |
| Jim Langford | Executive Director | Georgia Prevention Project | |
| Susannah Lara-Gresty | Student | Emory University | |
| George Leach | Assistant Professor | Emory School of Medicine | |
| Brigitte Manteuffel | Senior Research Associate | Georgia Health Policy Center | |
| Lori Murphy | Director of Development | Medical Association of Georgia Foundation | |
| Russ Nix | Opioid Crisis Response Manager | Georgia Department of Public Health | |
| Missy Owen | Executive Director | Davis Direction Foundation | |
| Sheila Pierce | Director | Prescription Drug Management Program, Georgia Department Public Health | |
| Mara Schenker | Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery | Emory School of Medicine | |
| Paul Seale | Family Medicine Physician | NavicentHealth | |
| Harold Simon | Vice Chair Pediatrics | Children’s Hospital of Atlanta | |
| Sheryl Strasser | Associate Professor | Georgia State University School of Public Health | |
| Cameron Taylor | Vice President, Government and Community Affairs | Emory University Government and Community Affairs | |
| Hillary Thrower | Assistant Director of State Affairs | Emory University Government and Community Affairs | |
| Irene Walker | Epidemiologist | Georgia Department of Public Health | |
| Martha Wetzel | MSPH Candidate | Emory Rollins School of Public Health | |
| Jennifer Whitfield, | Assistant US Attorney | US Department of Justice | |
| Courtney Yarbrough | Assistant Professor | Emory Rollins School of Public Health | |
| Jon Zibbell | Health Scientist | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
