More than 2.5 million Americans are struggling with addiction to opioids, including prescription painkillers and heroin. In 2015, opioids claimed more than 33,000 lives in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Between 2016 and 2017, the number of drug overdoses jumped 21 percent nationwide, with deaths from synthetic drugs such as fentanyl nearly doubling, the CDC estimates.

Harvard Medical School experts will be joined by Governor Charlie Baker to discuss the state of the opioid crisis and ways to stem the tide of the epidemic, including public and professional education, student and clinician training, and recommendations for best practices.