UTC’s Megan McKnight honored by White House for leadership in opioid overdose prevention

When the Biden-Harris Administration issued the White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose earlier this year, Megan McKnight, director of the Center for Wellbeing at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, was quick to act.

The challenge, a nationwide call to expand training and access to lifesaving opioid overdose reversal medications, motivated McKnight to take action—signing the University on to be a part of the program.

“In doing that,” she recalled, “I had to account for the work that we were already doing on campus and make a pledge that we were planning to do more.”

Her efforts have not gone unnoticed.

On Tuesday, Oct. 8, McKnight was invited to a Washington, D.C., summit hosted by the White House Domestic Policy Council (DPC) and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). The White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose event honored McKnight and nearly 250 other stakeholders for expanding access to lifesaving opioid overdose reversal medication and reducing preventable drug overdose deaths.

“The work we’re doing on this campus is being recognized at a national level,” said McKnight, who came to the University in 2019. “When I was talking to people there within the Domestic Policy Council, once I introduced myself, they were aware of UTC and knew about the critical work we were doing.

“It’s exciting to know that what we’re doing to impact the lives of our students is in alignment with the broader public health work that’s being done. We are being recognized for the positive things we are doing for our community.”

The event was held in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, located next to the White House’s West Wing. McKnight and the other summit attendees participated in a roundtable with the ONDCP director, Dr. Rahul Gupta, administration officials—including the DPC White House Fellow, Dr. Michael Hole, who is responsible for overseeing the challenge—and sector leaders.

The conversations, McKnight said, focused on the commitments made under the White House Challenge and the far-reaching impact of these efforts.

“The people from the different sectors were asked to share about their commitments and the work they’ve done,” she said, “and we were thanked for the progress that’s being done through this initiative—and for understanding the impacts.”

Event speakers included Gupta, DPC Director Neera Tanden, 75th Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, and Dr. Anthony Harris, a global medical officer at Amazon.

The invitees received letters of commendation from President Biden and were treated to video messages from actors Robert DeNiro and Samuel L. Jackson thanking them for their dedication to the work.

According to data provided by the Center for Wellbeing from the 2023-24 academic year and the start of the fall semester, McKnight and her team had:

• Trained 1,189 campus stakeholders in the use of opioid overdose reversal medications, such as naloxone
• Distributed 595 units of opioid overdose reversal medications
• Established 17 emergency stations across the UTC campus where these medications are stored

“It was really good to see the administration putting the emphasis not just on the call but also on the results,” McKnight said. “They recognized the work that folks from many sectors across the U.S. are doing to broaden access to naloxone and train people in spaces that had previously not been either actively engaged or really hadn’t thought as deeply about what it could look like for their employees or their populations. It was really neat to be engaged in those conversations.”

UTC School of Nursing Director Chris Smith, the University’s chief health affairs officer, commended McKnight’s dedication to student care.

“I’ve never had anybody that I worked with being recognized by the White House,” Smith said. “It’s a testimony to Megan’s dedication to making sure that the students on our campus are taken care of holistically—and that the problems that they are experiencing here are addressed in an evidence-based manner.

“Thanks to Megan’s work, we’re having very positive outcomes, not only in the retention of these students at UTC who will eventually graduate from the University—but in positioning them to move forward to be able to be functioning members of society who are able to manage any kind of health concerns that they have.”

Dr. Jessi Gold, the UT System chief wellness officer and an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UT Health Science Center in Memphis, said Narcan training and distribution “can save lives, period,” citing examples of seeing it as a psychiatrist first-hand from patients in the emergency room.

Gold recalled a personal experience when a fellow airline passenger was overdosing and the flight didn’t have Narcan available. She said they were able to keep the person alive, but it would have been safer if the plane was prepared for that emergency.

“I don’t ever want to be in that situation on one of our campuses,” Gold said. “Opiate use is a critical issue across our state—so much so that it is one of our Grand Challenges—but it is also of incredible importance to our students on campuses across the system. After our mental health retreat over the summer and in many conversations with faculty, staff and students on some of my campus visits, it became clear to me that this should be an immediate focus of my work and something that we come together as a system and prioritize.

“To tackle it, we formed a substance use and prevention working group with representatives chosen from each campus, which I am honored to have Megan McKnight co-chair—given her vast expertise and success on UTC’s campus. Forming the group was just the start, and I am excited to see what we will be able to do in the next year with this group.”

Learn more

• Visit UTC
• Center for Wellbeing
• Mocs Recovery Program
• FACT SHEET: Biden-⁠Harris Administration Announces Over 250 Organizations Made Voluntary Commitments to White House Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose
• How to apply