"By his own description, Nabarun Dasgupta digs through drug overdose data obsessively, scrutinizing the latest numbers from around the U.S. for clues about America's deadly overdose crisis. In 2024, the researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was one of the first scientists in the country to realize something new was happening: "I was going through [reports] state-by-state and all the graphs kind of pointed downwards," Dasgupta told NPR."
"In a statement, the foundation also pointed to his work outside the lab, helping develop "harm reduction" programs aimed at reducing drug deaths. "He collaborates with people who have experience with drug use or its consequences to design effective, evidence-based interventions that respond to the needs of people who use drugs and community-based organizations that support them," MacArthur Foundation officials said."
"Fatal overdoses were dropping fast, the biggest, most hopeful shift in decades. "It has been a complete shock, the numbers declining in the way that they have been," Dasgupta said, referencing local, state and federal reports, as well as data from hospitals and first responders around the U.S. "After all this time looking at overdose deaths, this is what we've been hoping for.""
Nabarun Dasgupta analyzed state, local, hospital and first-responder overdose data and identified steady declines in fatal overdoses across many U.S. states beginning in 2021. The observed decline contrasts with prevailing narratives of an unstoppable fentanyl crisis and represents the largest positive shift in decades. His work includes building a national street-drug sampling and analysis network as an early warning system and developing harm-reduction programs aimed at reducing drug deaths. He collaborates with people who have lived experience of drug use and with community-based organizations to design evidence-based interventions. His research received a MacArthur Foundation "genius" fellowship with an $800,000 award.
Read at www.npr.org
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