Sponsored Projects

SMART is a proud partner on multiple projects that seek to address addiction. Learn more about these efforts and their funding sources below.

Overdose Response Strategy

The SMART Initiative is the official Tennessee partner in the Overdose Response Strategy (ORS), a jointly administered project by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Justice High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas. SMART helps oversee and manage the state’s ORS public health analyst Kathleen Collins. Collins serves counties and cities alongside SMART by sharing timely data, pertinent intelligence, and data analysis and by strategizing to respond to the overdose crisis.

Project COURAGE

Project COURAGE (Combating Opioid Use in Rural Appalachia with Grace and Evidence) is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration in partnership with the UT College of Pharmacy and the Department of Public Health.

SMART facilitates several COURAGE programs in Scott, Campbell, Union, Claiborne, Grainger and Cocke counties. Through COURAGE, we help expand access to medications for opioid use disorder by linking medical, nurse practitioner and physician assistant students to addiction treatment centers and syringe service programs for clinical rotations and volunteer opportunities.

Similarly, COURAGE provides mentoring to faith leaders so Tennessee’s religious communities are equipped with evidence-based interventions and strategies. SMART also helps manage a drug take-back program, helping to prevent new opioid use disorders from developing.

Training and Empowering Musicians to Prevent Overdose (TEMPO)

The TEMPO project is funded by Gibson Gives, the philanthropic wing of Gibson Guitars. Gibson Gives and SMART have helped distribute dozens of high-tech overdose first-aid kits to music venues in Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga. In Nashville and Knoxville, lives were saved within a week of installation.

The goal is to continue expanding to other cities in the state as part of the multi-coalition initiative known as Training and Empowering Musicians to Prevent Overdose (TEMPO).

This work was conducted in conjunction with the following local partners:

Metro Nashville Police Department
Metro Nashville Office of Nightlife
Metro Drug Coalition
UT Knoxville
Hamilton County Government

Recovery Ecosystem Asset Mapping

In partnership with the East Tennessee State University (ETSU) Addiction Science Center, SMART is continuing to develop an interactive map which plots vetted recovery resources in a given region. This includes treatment, housing, faith-based programs, recovery courts and more. Three development districts are currently mapped, with plans to extend across the entire state.

In 2024, a team led by SMART including the University of Tennessee (UT) Knoxville; UT Southern; UT Martin; ETSU; and community partners was awarded a Grand Challenges grant to extend this work across the state.

ETSU currently operates the original version which mapped the First Development District of Northeast Tennessee, and SMART’s draft map covers the East and Southeast Development Districts, as well as additional counties in the Upper Cumberland and Southern Middle districts.

Recovery Ecosystem Mapping for Appalachian Development and Employment (R.E.M.A.D.E.)

Sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission Investments Supporting Partnerships in Recovery Ecosystems Initiative (INSPIRE), this project will assess the recovery-to-work ecosystems of Campbell, Claiborne, Cocke, Morgan and Scott Counties. It will also identify areas for improvement for county-level opioid settlement authorities and stakeholders.

Recovery resources will be connected to additional services offered by the UT Center for Industrial Services, the American Job Center and the East Tennessee Human Resource Agency.

Other objectives targeting recovery-ready workforce development in these economically distressed and at-risk counties will be implemented.

Unraveling the Interconnection: Substance Use and Health-Related Behaviors Among Youth in Tennessee

This project seeks to assess the use of tobacco, alcohol and drug among youth, and mental health issues across all Tennessee counties. The goal is to find local variations and disparities in these health indicators across Tennessee counties and facilitate targeted interventions.

These findings can also support health-related policy analysis, providing insights to inform resource allocation strategies aimed at addressing the overdose crisis and other pressing public health challenges in Tennessee.

This project is sponsored by a UT Grand Challenges grant and conducted in partnership with UT, Knoxville.

Rocky Top Recovery Ambassadors

The Rocky Top Recovery Ambassadors are UT students who identify as being in recovery from mental health or substance use disorders. They host weekly meetings and sober-friendly social events, as well as engage the student community to reduce stigma related to addiction and mental illness.

UT SMART launched the Rocky Top Recovery Ambassador program, which has since become a permanent fixture on the UT Knoxville campus. It is now managed by the UT Center for Health Education and Wellness.

The ambassadors program is sponsored by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

Drone-Based Medication Delivery

Through this partnership, SMART assessed the feasibility of using drone technology to increase access to opioid use disorder medications in rural, mountainous Appalachian areas. In these areas, vehicle-based deliveries are time-consuming, difficult and expensive.

Having secured the implementation grant as a follow up to this project, SMART will begin work to pilot this drone-based delivery system to underserved, rural Appalachian areas. This project is funded by the National Science Foundation in partnership with UT Knoxville’s Tickle College of Engineering and College of Social Work.