The University of Missouri–St. Louis Addiction Science Team is expanding its fight against the region’s overdose crisis with a new $250,000 grant from The Cigna Group Foundation. The funding will launch the St. Louis Medication Access Project—an initiative designed to remove some of the barriers that keep people from accessing methadone treatment for opioid use disorder.
The grant comes through The Cigna Group Health Equity Impact Fund, which supports community‑based programs working to close long‑standing gaps in health outcomes for underserved populations.
The St. Louis MAP initiative will provide medication lockboxes and transportation assistance—including bus passes and rideshare vouchers—to people seeking methadone treatment. The project will focus on neighborhoods where overdose rates remain highest and where transportation, clinic requirements, and safety concerns often create barriers that are as real as the addiction itself.
“We are really grateful to The Cigna Group Foundation for this funding,” said Rachel Winograd, who leads the UMSL Addiction Science Team and serves as an associate professor and principal investigator within psychological sciences and the Missouri Institute of Mental Health. “This allows us to build on some informal activities and community partnerships that we’ve had in recent years to make something more rigorous and robust that we can actually plan out intentionally and draw solid learnings from.”
Winograd has spent nearly ten years directing statewide efforts to combat Missouri’s overdose crisis. Under her leadership, the Addiction Science Team has helped expand access to naloxone, supported harm‑reduction strategies, and worked closely with clinics and community partners to identify the gaps that keep people from receiving treatment.
Transportation remains one of the biggest barriers. Another is the requirement that patients have a lockbox to safely store methadone—an obstacle that can delay or prevent treatment for people who are already navigating unstable housing, financial hardship, or inconsistent access to transportation.
“There are so many barriers associated with methadone treatment, but there are some that feel very tangible and addressable,” Winograd said. “Our work is about reducing as many barriers as we can at as many levels as we can—whether that’s structural with state or federal policy, whether that’s provider level with individual clinics or the people who work within them, or at the patient level, whether it’s often about their own awareness, knowledge, attitudes or access. We are trying to chip away one level and one barrier at a time.”
Research shows that up to 80% of a person’s health outcomes are shaped by social drivers such as housing stability, transportation, education, and economic opportunity. Those factors disproportionately affect underserved communities—contributing to preventable gaps in life expectancy, chronic disease, and substance‑use outcomes.
“Health equity can only be achieved when we address the root causes of disparities and work alongside trusted local organizations,” said Celeste Player, PharmD, Board Member of The Cigna Group Foundation. “We are honored to support the University of Missouri–St. Louis Addiction Science Team as they work to remove systemic barriers and expand access to vital health resources. Together, we’re helping create more equitable outcomes for all.”
St. Louis is one of the U.S. cities where The Cigna Group Health Equity Impact Fund is concentrating its efforts. Local data shows that St. Louis residents experience disproportionately high rates of death from substance‑use disorders and are more likely to visit the emergency room for mental health challenges than residents in other Missouri counties.
The Cigna Group Foundation has committed more than $27 million over three years to nonprofit organizations focused on youth and veteran mental health and reducing barriers to health equity. The Health Equity Impact Fund is part of that investment.