by Steve Brawner (BRAWNERSTEVE@MAC.COM)

A $50 million grant using national opioid settlement funds by Attorney General Tim Griffin will allow Arkansas Children’s Hospital to build the $70 million National Center for Opioid Research & Clinical Effectiveness (NCOR) on the hospital’s campus in Little Rock.

Griffin along with Children’s CEO Marcy Doderer announced the center and the grant at an event in front of the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute Thursday (Nov. 9). The Institute will add an initial investment of more than $20 million. Scientists will work closely with the Institute and Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center.

Construction on the 45,000-square-foot facility is expected to begin in late 2024. Griffin emphasized that NCOR will have its own building and research mission.

$50 million AG grant funding Arkansas Children’s opioid research center