As part of the 2019 DifferenceMaker® $50,000 Idea Challenge, Circle Health is sponsoring $5,000 for the Contribution to a Healthier Lifestyle category. This funding and award will support a team that best presents and solves a health-based problem.

Circle Health is particularly interested in solving the opioid epidemic. Middlesex county makes up for 17% of opioid overdoses in the state of Massachusetts. More than one person a week dies from opioid abuse in Lowell alone, and Circle Health wants to team up with UMass Lowell, DifferenceMaker and the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences to help come up with a solution.

These organizations are collaborating to host the Opioid Challenge at UMass Lowell; an event created to recruit students across campus, with a focus on health science students, to brainstorm solutions to the opioid epidemic. These ideas will then have the opportunity to enter the DifferenceMaker $50,000 Idea Challenge. This event will be held on Thursday, November 8th from 5:30- 7:00 PM in the O’Leary Library Mezzanine on South Campus. Students of all majors are encouraged to attend to be a part of this good cause!