INDIANAPOLIS (AP): Gov. Eric Holcomb is joining Indiana University officials to announce a new $50 million effort to reduce opioid abuse.

Opiate abuse has spiked across much of the U.S., but Indiana’s problem is particularly acute. It’s one of four states where overdose deaths have more than quadrupled since 1999.

It’s part of the university’s “Grand Challenges” program, which seeks solutions for ongoing problems. IU plans to use the money and its academic expertise to help collect data on the scope of the problem, train health care workers and craft better policy.

Holcomb has made fighting the opioid epidemic a cornerstone of his agenda.