HEAL Strategic Planning

Since the start of the Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative®, in 2018, HEAL programs are making progress on many fronts toward the ultimate goal of speeding scientific solutions to the overdose epidemic, including opioid and stimulant use disorders, and pain. As HEAL is now in its seventh year of funding, NIH is developing a strategic plan to establish research priorities for the next phase of the initiative that builds upon that progress and ensures that the NIH HEAL Initiative continues to evolve along with drivers of the overdose epidemic to provide the greatest benefit to individuals affected by substance use and those living with pain.

Developing NIH HEAL Initiative Strategic Research Priorities

This NIH HEAL Initiative Strategic Plan will draw on input from an array of stakeholders—including scientists, health care providers, advocacy groups, and people with lived and living experience—as well as existing research frameworks. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is the lead federal agency supporting research on drug use and addiction, and addressing the overdose crisis has been central to NIDA’s mission. HEAL research supported by NIDA has been and will continue to be guided by NIDA’s Strategic Plan. To ensure that NIDA’s HEAL research investments are optimized to meet evolving scientific and public health needs, NIDA has sought additional input with a focus on research priorities to address opioid use disorder and overdose, and the intersection of opioid use and pain, that are not already addressed in NIDA’s Strategic Plan. The process by which NIDA is gathering information to inform the HEAL Strategic Plan is described in the timeline below.

Because of the multidisciplinary nature of pain, pain research supported by HEAL spans many NIH institutes, centers, and offices. As part of the overall HEAL strategic planning effort, an Executive Committee of experts was convened in 2024 as a Working Group of the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NANDS) Council. They were charged with looking intensively at this multidisciplinary HEAL pain portfolio to assess past efforts and to chart scientific priorities for pain research for the next 5 years of the initiative. Finding scientific solutions to the evolving opioid and overdose crisis includes addressing the lack of safe and effective strategies for treating and managing acute and chronic pain. The mission of the HEAL pain portfolio is to reduce pain and the risk of opioid use disorder by developing safe and effective pain treatment and prevention strategies to improve quality of life for all people.

Robert Gereau, Ph.D. (co-chair)
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Kathleen Sluka, P.T., Ph.D., FAPTA (co-chair)
University of Iowa Health Care, Carver College of Medicine

Tamara Baker, Ph.D.
School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Yenisel Cruz-Almeida, Ph.D., M.S.P.H.
University of Florida

Lynn Debar, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Center for Health Research

Michael Falcon, O.T.D., OTR/L, M.H.A.
Hawaii Pacific University and Global Alliance of Partners for Pain Advocacy

John T. Farrar, M.D., Ph.D.
Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

Susmita Kashikar-Zuck, Ph.D.
University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital

Jessica Merlin, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A.
University of Pittsburgh

John Markman, M.D.
Eli Lilly & Company

Theodore (Ted) Price, Ph.D.
University of Texas at Dallas

Cheryl Stucky, Ph.D.
Medical College of Wisconsin

Vivianne Tawfik, M.D., Ph.D.
Stanford University

This HEAL Pain Strategic Research Priorities Executive Committee engaged in an in-depth process to propose and prioritize forward-looking strategic research priorities for the next phase of pain research supported by the NIH HEAL Initiative. The Executive Committee members led subcommittees related to the following areas:

  • Non-addictive pain therapeutics development
  • Pain biomarkers and predictors
  • Optimization of existing and novel interventions for pain
  • Implementation and health services for pain
  • Health equity and pain across the life course
  • The intersection of pain and substance use disorder
  • Pain research workforce and training

Each subcommittee worked with experts from the research community and people with lived experience of pain to propose research priorities that were refined by the Executive Committee. Additionally, the subcommittees considered responses from a Request for Information (RFI), which solicited feedback from the public on HEAL strategic directions, as well as input from a series of public workshops.

The combined efforts described above will be synthesized into an overall NIH HEAL Initiative Strategic Plan that will guide the research investment for next 5 years. To stay apprised of strategic planning efforts, please subscribe to the HEAL Digest.

Workshops

Learn more below about previous workshops and watch the recordings of the workshops.

Nov 6, 2024 | HEAL Pain Research Priorities Workshop: Biomarkers and Predictors

Nov 15, 2024 | HEAL Pain Research Priorities Workshop: Non-Addictive Pain Therapeutics Development

Nov 18, 2024 | HEAL Pain Research Priorities Workshop: Research Workforce and Training

Nov 25, 2024 | HEAL Pain Research Priorities Workshop: Optimizing Interventions to Improve Pain Management

Dec 2, 2024 | HEAL Pain Research Priorities Workshop: The Intersection of Pain and Substance Use

Dec 5, 2024 | HEAL Pain Research Priorities Workshop: Implementation and Health Services

Dec 6, 2024 | HEAL Pain Research Priorities Workshop: Health Equity and Pain Across the Life Course

The Executive Committee considered the proposed research priorities and recommended the most promising directions for future HEAL-supported pain research. The final recommended priorities were presented to the NANDS Council in May, 2025, and approved by Council.

Learn more about the final Council-approved pain research priorities for HEAL in this final report.