Multi-Disciplinary Working Group
About
The Multi-Disciplinary Working Group serves as a fact-finding body of experts external to NIH to provide input to guide Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative®, research. The working group assists the NIH Institute and Center (IC) Advisory Councils to help ensure that NIH HEAL Initiative research meets the bold, trans-NIH goals for the initiative. Its meetings serve as a forum to engage partners in the private sector and research community, provide a transparent venue for stakeholders and members of the public, and help facilitate exchange of scientific information among NIH HEAL Initiative projects.
The working group provides input on NIH HEAL Initiative research in the following areas:
- Share expertise in the pain and opioid misuse and addition fields.
- Provide perspective and input on the overall initiative.
- Prioritize upcoming areas of research in the NIH HEAL Initiative by developing gap analysis to suggest where more research is needed.
- Harmonize existing NIH HEAL Initiative projects by suggesting mechanisms to connect and coordinate across all projects, including how to integrate new projects.
- Consider possible options for specific pain conditions to be addressed through the NIH HEAL Initiative clinical trials networks.
- Suggest ways to integrate topics that involve multiple different NIH ICs or projects, but are not directly collaborating.
- Assess proposed funding plans for NIH HEAL Initiative projects (possibly in closed session).
- Form subgroups focused on specific NIH HEAL Initiative research areas.
- For example: the NIH HEAL Initiative Partnership Committee will convey expert input on analgesic development and other relevant functions
- Integrate reports from subgroups to include in overall findings to the working group.
These findings will be presented to individual IC Advisory Councils for deliberation and NIH leadership for final decision making.
Meetings
- August 30-31, 2023
- February 15-16, 2023
- February 6, 2023
- August 30-31, 2022
- March 1-2, 2022
- September 1-2, 2021
- March 2-3, 2021
- August 31- September 1, 2020
- March 18, 2020
- August 21-22, 2019
- May 17, 2019
- March 4, 2019
Videocast links, agendas, presentations, and other materials are available on the News and Events page.