Click here for open funding opportunities to develop devices to diagnose and treat pain.
To reverse the opioid crisis that continues to plague the nation, the National Institutes of Health has awarded $945 million in total funding for fiscal year 2019 to grants, contracts and cooperation agreements in 41 states across the NIH’s Long-Term Initiative to Help End Addiction or HEAL Initiative. The trans-NIH research effort aims to improve treatments for chronic pain, curb rates of opioid use disorder (OUD) and overdoses, and achieve long-term recovery from opioid addiction.
In 2016, a An estimated 50 million American adults suffered from chronic pain. and in 2018, a An estimated 10.3 million people ages 12 and older in the United States abused opioids, including heroin..
“Both President Trump’s approach to the opioid crisis and HHS’s strategy have been based on the best science we have,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “We have effective tools like medication-assisted treatment, but we still need better ways to treat opioid addiction and manage pain in an effective, personalized way. This historic investment by the NIH was made possible by funding President Trump secured from Congress, and will support our work in the current crisis and lay the foundation for a healthier future.”
The NIH HEAL Initiative is leveraging the expertise of nearly every NIH institute and center to address the crisis from every angle and discipline, and across the entire spectrum of research, from basic science to implementation in the areas of:
- Translation of research into practice for the treatment of opioid addiction
- New strategies to prevent and treat opioid addiction
- Better outcomes for infants and children exposed to opioids
- New Medication Options for Opioid Use Disorder and Overdose
- Clinical research in pain management.
- Preclinical and translational research in pain management.
“It is clear that a multifaceted scientific approach is needed to reduce the risks of opioids, accelerate the development of effective non-opioid therapies for pain, and provide more flexible and effective options for treating opioid addiction,” said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., who launched initiative in early 2018. “This unprecedented investment in the NIH HEAL Initiative demonstrates the commitment to reversing this devastating crisis.”
The initiative will address multiple issues that are slowing or preventing progress in addressing the crisis, including:
Problem: Many people with OUD do not receive adequate treatment for their disorder.
Scientific solution: He HEALing communities study and Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network (JCOIN) will integrate evidence-based interventions into community, court, and emergency room settings where people with OUD seek help. NIH will study which interventions or combination of interventions work best in each community and implement them.
Problem: Many patients receiving medications for OUD do not continue treatment long enough to achieve long-term recovery.
Scientific solution: NIH HEAL Initiative Awards Focus on Novel, Durable, Innovative Treatments for OUD. This includes the use of immunotherapies to prevent relapses and overdoses, extended-release formulations, and reducing drug cravings to give patients more options to maintain their recovery.
Problem: There are different types of pain and people experience it differently, but it is not known which treatments will work best for each patient.
Scientific solution: NIH HEAL Initiative research will advance our understanding of pain by identifying Biomarkers, endpoints and signatures of pain conditions.in addition to providing evidence-based, non-addictive treatments for discrete pain conditions such as back pain, post-surgical pain and pain in hemodialysis patients.
Problem: Doctors must ensure their patients’ pain is under control while balancing the risks of long-term opioid therapy.
Scientific solution: The initiative develop non-addictive pain medications and test new models of care in real-world settings. This includes a controlled trial of acupuncture for chronic low back pain, in which the NIH works with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to inform coverage determinations.
Problem: There is no national standard for care for babies born exposed to opioids.
Scientific solution: Research through the NIH HEAL Initiative will inform Treatment guidelines for the clinical care of infants exposed to opioids in utero.. Long-term studies of these babies improve our understanding of prenatal and postnatal opioid exposure on brain growth and development.
“We need to ensure that people with chronic pain have effective treatment options that do not expose them to the risk of opioids,” said Rebecca G. Baker, Ph.D., director of the NIH HEAL Initiative. “Preventing opioid misuse and addiction through better pain management and improving treatments for OUD and addiction are critical parts of our trans-NIH response to the opioid crisis.”
Learn more about the NIH HEAL Initiative Programs and Awardsand the opioid crisis.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 institutes and centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency that conducts and supports basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures of common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
