Description of the following video:

[Video: Indiana University "Grand Challenge Responding to the Addictions Crisis" graphic fades in, in red on a white screen]

[Music: Music fades in]

[Video: Exterior wall of Indiana University Neurosciences Research Building fades in]

[Video: Exterior front entrance glass of IU Neurosciences Research Building School of Medicine]

Brady Atwood speaks in voiceover: I'm Brady Atwood; I'm an assistant professor ...

[Video: Atwood appears onscreen, sitting in some sort of laboratory, continuing to speak; graphic appears in the lower left of the screen showing his name and affiliation: ... in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

[Video: Slow motion of Atwood walking toward the camera as the lower-thirds graphic pushes toward camera and fades away to the left; video fades into next shot]

[Video: Atwood's lab team together, looking at the camera, as camera pushes in]

Atwood speaks in voiceover: So, my lab is very much interested in how drugs of abuse such as opioids affect how the brain functions.

[Video: Slow-motion pan of lab member using equipment]

[Video: Three brain images pan across the screen, fading into one another. The first two are tinted red; the third is green]

Atwood speaks in voiceover: Specifically looking at how it changes the way brain cells talk to one another and how that translates into changes of behavior ...

[Video: Two separate shots of computer monitors showing activity on screens]

Atwood speaks in voiceover: ... with hopes of someday being able to find ways to undo some of those changes as ways to treat drug abuse and addiction

[Video: Atwood is briefly shown speaking in the same lab environment, but it quickly switches to voiceover]

[Video: Lab member pipetting solution into a small tube]

Atwood speaks in voiceover: So we do have a project with the Grand Challenges Responding to the Addictions Crisis.

[Video: Lab member pouring substance into a clear large-mouthed bottle of clear liquid]

Atwood speaks in voiceover: Our project is very much focused on ...

[Video: Silhouette of mother holding baby in the air]

Atwood speaks in voiceover: ... children that are born to mothers that were dependent on opioids ...

[Video: Close up on a baby's face as it lies on its back, smiling]

Atwood speaks in voiceover: ... or mothers that used opioids during pregnancy.

[Video: Lab member handling lab materials]

Atwood speaks in voiceover: Increasingly in the news -- opioids have been abused for a long time, but there's an increasing number of children that are born to opioid-dependent mothers.

[Video: Lab member using lab equipment as Brady Atwood supervises]

[Video: Lab member handling a red-tinged solution in a test tube; a test tube with green liquid is in a holder nearby]

Atwood speaks in voiceover: And we don't quite know what the long-term outcomes for these children are.

[Video: Children playing in water spouts]

Atwood speaks in voiceover: We don't know how this will affect their ability to learn and develop and social interactions.

[Video: Young girl in chair interacting with an object and looking up]

[Video: A group of children at a table working on an assignment of some sort]

Atwood speaks in voiceover: We don't know how this will affect gene expression and how that will affect their long-term outcomes.

[Video: A child in a stroller drinking out of a bottle as other children play nearby

[Video: Lab member opening a door to lab equipment]

Atwood speaks in voiceover: So the Addictions Grand Challenge was a fantastic opportunity. We brought together nine different investigators for our project with a range of expertise from understanding pharmacology, understanding genetics, physiology ...

[Video: Male and female lab members working in lab]

[Video: Solution in glass tubes spinning]

[Video: Monitor showing ultrasound]

[Video: Atwood speaks on camera in the lab environment: ... and we all got together and brought our ... ]

Atwood speaks in voiceover: ... different expertises and are approaching this project from a lot of different angles to really capture every aspect that we can of ...

[Video: Lab team together, looking at camera as a group as camera pulls back

[Video: Atwood walking through lab, looking at what members are doing]

[Video: Atwood is shown speaking onscreen: ... how this in utero opioid overexposure affects children.]

[Video: Fade to Indiana University "Grand Challenge Responding to the Addictions Crisis" graphic, in red on white background, then fades out to black screen with red-and-white IU trident and "Indiana University" in white.]

[Music: Music fades out]

[Video: Indiana University fades out]

END OF TRANSCRIPT

The number of babies born exposed to opioids has increased fivefold since 2000. While medication-assisted therapies are recommended for treating opioid use disorder in pregnant women, the long-term consequences of in utero opioid exposure, including medication-assisted therapies, on health and the risk for substance abuse later in life are unknown.

Brady Atwood, assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the Indiana University School of Medicine, is studying the effects of in utero exposure to opioids on neonatal, adolescent and adult physiology and behavior as part of the Responding to the Addictions Crisis Grand Challenge initiative.

Atwood's research reflects IU's extensive expertise and research regarding addictions. To build on this area of strength, IU President Michael A. McRobbie, along with Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and IU Health President and CEO Dennis Murphy, announced the Responding to the Addictions Crisis Grand Challenge initiative in October 2017.

April Toler is assistant director of communications in the Office of the Vice President for Research.

Continued here:
In utero opioid exposure is subject of IU School of Medicine research - IU Newsroom