Historic Center: What is NCOR and Its Impact

In July, Arkansas Children's broke ground on the National Center for Opioid Research & Clinical Effectiveness (NCOR) in Little Rock, which will change the trajectory of the opioid crisis and substance misuse nationwide. The center will be anchored to maternal and child health and focus on research, developing treatment programs, prevention and community outreach and engagement.   

In a little over two decades, nearly 727,000 people died from opioid overdose in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a study published in the journal Pediatrics in 2023, opioids were the leading cause of accidental fatal poisonings in children 5 years old and younger.  

While these and many more statistics are startling, NCOR Director Alicia Allen, Ph.D., M.P.H., also an associate professor in the department of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, said the center, to be completed in early 2027, will create a more hopeful future for children and those with opioid or substance use disorder. 

"We are dedicated to reducing the stigma around opioid use disorder so that families feel empowered to seek treatment and sustain recovery. We are building a state-of-the-art research infrastructure to study how the opioid crisis affects children and families, developing evidence-based prevention and treatment programs physicians can use for their patients and building partnerships to supplement existing prevention efforts across the state. We are also committed to supporting education and sharing knowledge about opioid and substance use disorders and informing state and national policies to improve child health outcomes," Allen said. "NCOR's research and community outreach will improve the trajectory of children's health and give families a healthier tomorrow."   

 

What is NCOR?   

NCOR, a proposed 65,000-square-foot research building, will include three floors on the southeast end of the Arkansas Children's Hospital (ACH) campus. NCOR and the Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center, one of six National Human Nutrition Centers funded through the USDA-ARS, are collaborative programs within Arkansas Children's Research Institute (ACRI). Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin awarded the $75-million center $55 million of opioid and vaping settlement funds.  

Jami Jones, NCOR director of operations, is responsible for NCOR’s daily operations, hiring a team, managing budgets, overseeing the implementation and management of research projects, collaborating with community and internal groups and helping with the center’s design.   

When families first walk into the family clinical research unit (FCRU) lobby on the first floor, they'll experience a warm and welcoming atmosphere that feels like "home," Jones said. The space is designed with family-centered care in mind, offering a variety of seating options for both adults and children, including comfortable couches, countertop seating and tables with chairs. Large privacy windows will let in natural light, creating a bright and inviting environment. The FCRU lobby will also feature a large TV, touch screens on the walls for children to play games and a pantry stocked with snacks and water.  

The center also includes:  

First floor:   

• A main lobby with a grab-and-go café and indoor and outdoor seating, 
• 12 private, adaptable interview/observational rooms for studies (like neurological, cognitive and behavioral assessments), 
• Four multipurpose rooms, including a sensory-specific room for children who need sensory accommodations,  
• A phlebotomy lab for blood draws, attached to a sample processing lab (samples will be processed there and taken to ACRI for study),  
• And the Research Imaging Center, including a 3T-MRI machine, an MRI simulator room, two EEG testing rooms and a dedicated data processing space, will offer a collaborative environment for researchers and students to study MRI and EEG data. 

Second floor:   

• An administrative office space, dry labs and open workstations for research team members, 
• Community Engagement and Conference Center with a lobby area, outdoor terrace and space for catering service, 
• A large conference room with seating for approximately 190 people that can be divided by a partition,  
• A medium conference room with seating for 20 that can be divided by a partition, 
• And two small conference rooms with seating for 12 in each room. 

Third floor:   

• A shell space for future administrative office space, dry labs and open workstations for research team members. 

The third floor was added thanks in part to additional money from the attorney general from vaping settlement funds, helping to expand the scope of research to other types of substance use.  

"We're creating a welcoming, non-clinical space where children and families impacted by the opioid crisis can feel comfortable and at ease," Jones said. "It will also be a space for team members, researchers and community members to meet, conduct education and training or have conversations that lead to team building, collaboration and partnerships."   

Many research studies will require MRIs for participants, including children and adults. Because researchers do not use sedation on children and adults during a research-related MRI, having options for keeping them calm for long periods is vital.  

"The MRI simulator will allow participants to experience what it's like to be in an MRI to help them feel more comfortable and less nervous during the actual MRI. They can get inside the machine, listen to the sound and feel what it's like to be inside the MRI and practice lying still," Jones said. "We have calm down spaces and sleep rooms built into the MRI facility for infants and young children, including a warming blanket machine, toddler beds, cribs and rocking chairs."   

NCOR’s 3T MRI, which allows for higher resolution imaging because of its stronger magnetic field, will be a customizable experience for participants, including music, colors and images projected on the wall.   

"If we have a child who comes in and loves ocean animals, we can change the room's lighting to blue and project under-the-sea scenes onto the walls," Jones said. "We may have a mom who wants a calm atmosphere; we can use soft lighting and soothing images. It's going to be incredible."   

NCOR will hire a core group of team members, administrative and research operations team members. Jones will work with Allen to recruit researchers nationwide who study opioids. She also said any researcher at ACRI or the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) conducting pediatric research related to opioids, addiction or brain imaging can also utilize the space.  

What will NCOR do?   

NCOR will pioneer groundbreaking research related to opioids and other substance misuse and collaborate with community members involved in addressing opioid and substance use disorders.  

"We will be collecting data and building datasets to follow children and families over time, studying how opioid exposure affects a child's development, outcomes and life trajectory. This data will help guide treatment approaches for care providers and could lead to changes in the standard of care practices or inform policy decisions," Jones said.   

It is not a residential treatment facility for people who are currently experiencing opioid dependence. However, Jones said the center hopes to work with community organizations to help connect people in the community to the right resources, and enhance the quality of those resources, including working with the Six Bridges Clinic at UAMS. UAMS, in conjunction with ACH, opened the outpatient clinic in March 2024, treating patients aged 12 to 21 for substance dependency, including opioids, marijuana and alcohol.  

Some innovative research studies planned or in progress include:   

• Eat, Sleep, Console Care Approach: Intervention aimed at improving outcomes for newborns with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS). 
• Following Baby Back Home: Expanding our existing post-birth hospitalization home visiting program to support families with infants experiencing NOWS.  
• Game-based Intervention to Prevent Adolescent Prescription Drug Misuse: This school-based intervention project enhances an existing Opioid Misuse App by improving its functionality and incorporating an educational component for caregivers, delivered through email or text.    

The work of NCOR, in the center’s walls and beyond, will save the lives of children and change the narrative.   

"It's alarming how early some children are exposed to prescription opioids outside of a medical setting, sometimes as young as fifth grade," Jones said. "I feel strongly that prevention and education will be critical parts of our efforts. However, our work isn't just about prevention; it's about understanding how opioid exposure impacts children and families, sharing evidence-based treatment options with medical experts and partnering with schools, communities and law enforcement to develop or enhance programs that support children's health and well-being for the long term." 

This article was written by the Arkansas Children’s content team and medically reviewed by the NCOR team.