U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
What is the NIH HEAL Initiative?
The Helping to End Addiction Long-termSM Initiative, or NIH HEAL InitiativeSM, is an aggressive, trans-agency effort to speed scientific solutions to stem the national opioid public health crisis. Almost every NIH Institute and Center is accelerating research to address this public health emergency from all angles.
The initiative is funding hundreds of projects nationwide. Researchers are taking a variety of approaches to tackle the opioid epidemic through:
- Understanding, managing, and treating pain
- Improving treatment for opioid misuse and addiction
Featured News
Emergency department-administered, high-dose buprenorphine may enhance opioid use disorder treatment outcomes
July 15, 2021
High-dose buprenorphine therapy, provided under emergency department care, is safe and well tolerated in people with opioid use disorder experiencing opioid withdrawal symptoms, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) through the Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative, or the NIH HEAL Initiative.
Read the press releaseLatest Research Spotlight
Latest Research Spotlight
Can Treating Pain and Mood Together Improve Outcomes for People With Chronic Low Back Pain?
HEAL Researchers Combine Antidepressants and Physical Therapy
Read the SpotlightResearch Priorities
In 2018, NIH, in consultation with a broad range of stakeholders, identified a set of research priorities reflecting urgent unmet needs across the lifespan, areas of promising scientific opportunity, and concrete strategies capable of providing rapid and durable solutions to the opioid crisis.
Through evidence-based scientific research, the NIH HEAL Initiative will provide lasting, scientific solutions to the opioid crisis.
Funded Research Focus Areas
Funded Research Focus Areas
Through the initiative, NIH supports research to enhance pain management and improve treatment for opioid misuse and addiction. The initiative includes research focus areas led by 12 NIH ICs supporting hundreds of projects that reflect the full spectrum of research from basic science to implementation research.
Find information on funding for the initiative