U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Overview
The Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative®, is a trans-NIH research effort focused on improving prevention and treatment for opioid misuse and addiction and enhancing pain management.
The NIH HEAL Initiative is organized into six research focus areas. Within those focus areas, 12 NIH Institutes and Centers are leading 28 research programs to find scientific solutions to the opioid crisis.
View the NIH HEAL Initiative research plan and HEAL-Supported Research Publications.
Translation of Research to Practice for the Treatment of Opioid Addiction
The initiative will use implementation studies to test the integration of evidence-based interventions in an array of settings.
New Strategies to Prevent and Treat Opioid Addiction
The initiative will support research to develop new or improved prevention and treatment strategies for opioid addiction.
- Optimizing Collaborative Care for People with Opioid Use Disorder and Mental Health Conditions
- Preventing At-Risk Adolescents Transitioning into Adulthood from Developing Opioid Use Disorder
- Sleep Dysfunction as a Core Feature of Opioid Use Disorder and Recovery
- Optimizing the Duration, Retention, and Discontinuation of Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder
- Prevention of Progression to Moderate or Severe Opioid Use Disorder
Enhanced Outcomes for Infants and Children Exposed to Opioids
The initiative will support research to address the medical and social needs of infants and children affected by opioid use disorder.
Novel Medication Options for Opioid Use Disorder and Overdose
The initiative will support the development of new medications to treat all aspects of the opioid addiction cycle.
Clinical Research in Pain Management
The initiative will support new clinical trial programs and the expansion of existing programs to evaluate innovative therapies for pain management.
- Back Pain Consortium Research Program
- Enhancing Career Development in Clinical Pain Research
- Pain Management Effectiveness Research Network
- Pragmatic and Implementation Studies for the Management of Pain to Reduce Opioid Prescribing (PRISM)
- Early Phase Pain Investigation Clinical Network (EPPIC-Net)
- Integrated Approach to Pain and Opioid Use in Hemodialysis Patients
- Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures Program
Preclinical and Translational Research in Pain Management
The initiative will accelerate the discovery and preclinical development of new medications and devices to treat pain.
- Discovery and Validation of Biomarkers, Endpoints, and Signatures for Pain Conditions
- Preclinical Screening Platform for Pain
- Translational Research to Advance Testing of Novel Drugs and Human Cell-Based Screening Platforms to Treat Pain and Opioid Use Disorder
- Optimizing Non-addictive Therapies to Treat Pain
- Translating Discoveries into Effective Devices to Treat Pain
- Discovery and Validation of Novel Targets for Safe and Effective Treatment of Pain
Cross-Cutting Research
Many research projects that advance the goals of the HEAL initiative cut across both pain management and addiction.
Page last updated January 18, 2022