U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
2024 NIH HEAL Initiative Awards
The NIH HEAL Initiative® Awards recognize researchers for Excellence in Research, Mentorship, Interdisciplinary Collaboration, and Community Partnership. Researchers in the early to middle stages of their careers are recognized with a Trailblazer Award or honorable mention.
Browse the five award categories and 2024 awardees.
The 2024 HEAL Trailblazer awardees
Trailblazer
The HEAL Trailblazer Award recognizes HEAL-funded researchers in the early stages of their careers who are applying an innovative approach or creativity in their research or HEAL-funded researchers in the middle stages of their careers who are expanding research into addressing the pain and opioid crises in new directions. The 2024 awardees demonstrate the ability to develop or apply novel techniques, approaches, models, or methodologies to HEAL research.
Kathryn Hawk, M.D., M.H.S.
Yale University Department of Emergency Medicine
Funded Project: The National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network
Hernan Bazan, M.D., FACS
South Rampart Pharma, Inc.
Funded Project: Novel Non-narcotic Analgesic for Acute and Chronic Pain
Catherine D. Chong, Ph.D.
Mayo Clinic
Funded Project: Biomarker Signature to Predict the Persistence of Post-Traumatic Headache
Jacob Coverstone
Neurovations
Funded Project: PURPOSE: Positively Uniting Researchers of Pain to Opine, Synthesize, and Engage
Trailblazer Honorable Mentions
- Zachary Adams, Ph.D., Indiana University School of Medicine
Funded Project: Workforce and System Change to Treat Adolescent Opioid Use Disorder Within Integrated Pediatric Primary Care - Allyson Dir, Ph.D., Indiana University School of Medicine
Funded Project: Fatal Overdose Review Teams - Research to Enhance Surveillance Systems (FORTRESS) - Kelli Scott, Ph.D., Center for Dissemination and Implementation Science, Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine
Funded Project: HEALing Measurement Center: Enhancing Opioid Use Disorder Recovery Through Measurement Based Care - Gracelyn Cruden, Ph.D., Chestnut Health Services
Funded Project: Supporting Data-Driven Decision-Making to Support Substance Use Service Expansion Policies and to Prevent Overdoses - Bashar Badran, Ph.D., Medical University of South Carolina
Funded Project: Understanding the Mechanistic, Neurophysiological, and Antinociceptive Effects of Transcutaneous Auricular Neurostimulation for Treatment of Chronic Pain
The 2024 HEAL Excellence in Research awardees
Excellence in Research
The HEAL Award for Excellence in Research recognizes HEAL-funded investigators who exemplify research excellence, support broad dissemination of key research, and demonstrate leadership in the scientific community. The 2024 awardees’ development of experimental practices, models, and approaches have had a major, transformative impact on the pain and addiction research fields.
Nabila El-Bassel, Ph.D.
Columbia University
Funded Project: CHASE: An Innovative County-Level Public Health Response to the Opioid Epidemic in New York State
Ali Rezai, M.D.
West Virginia University
Funded Project: Feasibility of Deep Brain Stimulation as a Novel Treatment for Refractory Opioid Use Disorder
William S. Marras, Ph.D.
Ohio State University
Funded Project: The Spine Phenome Project: Enhancing Patient Diversity
Prasad Shirvalkar, M.D., Ph.D.
University of California San Francisco
Funded Project: Multisite Adaptive Brain Stimulation for Multidimensional Treatment of Refractory Chronic Pain
The 2024 HEAL Mentorship awardees
Mentorship
The HEAL Award for Mentorship recognizes HEAL-funded researchers who demonstrate exceptional commitment to the development and mentorship of early career scientists in the pain and addiction research fields. The 2024 awardees support the independent career trajectories of mentees, are committed to creating a supportive environment, demonstrate integrity, are committed to inclusion and diversity, and help prepare researchers to become mentors themselves.
Ashli J. Sheidow, Ph.D.
Chestnut Health Systems
Funded Project: Improving Access to Substance Abuse Evidence-Based Practices for Youth in the Justice System: Strategies Used by JPOs
Aaron Fox, M.D., M.S.
Albert Einstein College of Medicine / Montefiore Medical Center
David Smelson, Psy.D.
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
Funded Project: Supporting Treatment Access and Recovery for Co-Occurring Opioid Use and Mental Health Disorders (STAR-COD)
Kathleen A. Sluka, P.T., Ph.D., FAPTA
University of Iowa
Funded Project(s): Clinical Coordinating Center for the Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures Program; Fibromyalgia TENS in Physical Therapy Study (TIPS): An Embedded Pragmatic Clinical Trial
Daniel Clauw, M.D.
University of Michigan
Funded Project: University of Michigan (UM) HEAL Initiative National K12 Clinical Pain Career Development Program (UM-HCPDP)
Claudia Campbell, Ph.D.
Johns Hopkins University
Funded Project: Mentorship of Junior Investigators on HEAL-SKOAP
The 2024 HEAL Interdisciplinary Collaboration awardee
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
The HEAL Award for Interdisciplinary Collaboration recognizes HEAL-funded researchers who bridged relationships across fields of science, resulting in interdisciplinary and cutting-edge research. The 2024 awardees prioritize collaborations integrating diverse levels of analysis, methodologies, ways of thinking, and scientific communities.
Kimberly Fryer, M.D., MSCR
University of South Florida Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Funded Project: CADENCE - Continuous And Data-drivEN CarE
Cecelia Valrie, Ph.D.
Virginia Commonwealth University
Funded Project: Predicting Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease Acute Pain Using Mathematical Models Based on mHealth Data
The 2024 HEAL Community Partnership awardees
Community Partnership
The HEAL Award for Community Partnership recognizes HEAL-funded researchers who demonstrate a commitment to community partnerships through community-based participatory research methods, integrating feedback from people with lived experience, and engagement through community advisory boards. The 2024 awardees demonstrate commitment to sustained relationships with the community, characterized by respect, equity, and engagement in multiple phases of the research.
Maria Isabella Natale Castillo
Boston Children's Hospital
Funded Project: 5/24 HEALthy Brain and Child Development National Consortium
Lara Coughlin, Ph.D.
University of Michigan
Funded Project: Preferences and Predictors Driving Opioid-Involved Polysubstance Use Profiles and Trajectories: Implications for Improving Care
Isabel Roth, Dr.P.H., M.S.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine
Funded Project: Group-Based Mindfulness for Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain in the Primary Care
Learn more about the NIH HEAL Initiative
5th Annual NIH HEAL Initiative Scientific Meeting
HEAL-funded researchers, federal officials, people with lived and living experience, and other stakeholders working to address the public health crises of opioid use disorder, overdose, and pain convened February 7-8, 2024, to discuss HEAL research progress, challenges, and opportunities.
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