NINDS' Role in the HEAL Initiative

 

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 Helping to End Addiction Long-term

Launched in April 2018, the NIH 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. The Initiative will advance research to reduce the risks of opioid use and misuse and improve pain management, thereby reducing reliance on opioids. NINDS is the lead Institute for pain research at NIH and leads the Executive Committee of the NIH Pain Consortium, which includes 23 Institutes and Centers. The NIH Pain Consortium’s mission includes improving the treatment of a variety of pain conditions. NINDS will focus efforts in the NIH HEAL Initiative in developing non-addictive pain treatments that may displace the need for opioids, and importantly, serve as effective treatments for acute and chronic pain conditions for which opioids are not effective. This work will be informed by partners from the government, industry, academia, and patients suffering from pain.

NIH HEAL Initiative Programs and Funding Opportunities Led by NINDS

The following are a list of NIH HEAL Initiative programs that will be led by NINDS. All HEAL Initiative funding opportunities are available on the NIH HEAL Initiative website, and all NIH funding opportunities related to pain are available on the NIH Pain Consortium website.

HEAL Initiative Research Supplements to Promote Diversity

An important goal of the HEAL Initiative is to promote the scientific workforce by enhancing participation of individuals from groups identified as underrepresented in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral, and social sciences. This supplemental funding can be used to recruit a diverse individual into a HEAL project.  Principle Investigators of any active HEAL-funded award may apply.

Open Funding Opportunities

NOT-NS-20-107 Research Supplements to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research (Admin Supp - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Contact:
Eric Hudak, Ph.D., Scientific Program Manager, NINDS

Optimization of Non-addictive Therapies [Small Molecules and Biologics] to Treat Pain

This Pain Therapeutic Development Program (PTDP) will support preclinical optimization and development of safe, effective, and non-addictive small molecule and biologic therapeutics to treat pain. The goal of the program is to accelerate promising small molecule and biologic hits/leads towards clinical trials.

Open Funding Opportunities/Announcments:
RFA-NS-21-010 UG3/UH3 Exploratory/Developmental Phased Award Cooperative Agreement

Closed Funding Opportunities/Announcements:

RFA-NS-19-010 UG3/UH3 Exploratory/Developmental Phased Award Cooperative Agreement

RFA-NS-19-020 UG3/UH3 Exploratory/Developmental Phased Award Cooperative Agreement

Contact:
Mary Ann Pelleymounter, Ph.D. | Program Director & Officer

Discovery and Validation of Novel Targets for Safe and Effective Pain Treatment

These programs will promote the discovery and validation of novel therapeutic targets to facilitate the development of pain treatments that have minimal side effects and little to no abuse/addiction liability as alternatives to opioids. Identifying and rigorously validating new targets for pain treatments will lower the risk of adopting the target in translational projects to develop small molecules, biologics, natural substances, or devices that interact with this target for new pain treatments.

Open Funding Opportunities/Announcements:

Closed Funding Opportunities/Announcements:

Contact:
Michael L. Oshinsky, PhD, Program Director, NINDS
D.P. Mohapatra, PhD, Program Director, NINDS

Preclinical Screening Platform for Pain (PSPP)

The Preclinical Screening Platform for Pain (PSPP) program is an efficient, rigorous, one-stop resource designed to accelerate discovery of effective, non-addictive, non-opioid pain therapies including small molecules, biologics, natural products, and devices. PSPP accepts assets for evaluation from academic researchers, industry, and government institutions worldwide and provides the evaluation at no cost to the PSPP participants.

Contact:
Smriti Iyengar, PhD, Program Director, NINDS
Sarah Woller, PhD, Program Manager, NINDS

HEAL Initiative: Discovery of Biomarkers and Biomarker Signatures to Facilitate Clinical Trials for Pain Therapeutics 

This program will promote the discovery and development of Validated Response Monitoring and Prediction Pain Biosignatures that will Facilitate Phase 2 Clinical Trials for Pain Therapeutics.

Open Funding Opportunities at this time:

  • RFA-NS-24-018 HEAL Initiative: Discovery of Biomarkers and Biomarker Signatures to Facilitate Clinical Trials for Pain Therapeutics (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Optional)

Contact:
E-mail: Ram Arudchandran, PhD, Program Director, NINDS

 

Early Phase Pain Investigation Network (EPPIC-Net)

EPPIC-Net will provide a robust and readily accessible infrastructure for carrying out in-depth phenotyping and biomarker studies in patients with specific pain conditions, and the rapid design and performance of high-quality Phase 2 clinical trials to test promising novel therapeutics for pain from partners in academia or industry. Studies will bring intense focus to patients with well-defined pain conditions and high unmet therapeutic needs. This network will also collaborate with a new program focused on chronic low back pain under consideration at NIH and led by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS).

Open Funding Opportunities/Announcements:

  • OTA-22-002(pdf, 181 KB) HEAL Initiative: EPPIC-Net Pain Research Asset Application (OT1)
  • NOT-NS-19-075 Notice of Information: HEAL/NINDS Early Phase Pain Investigation Clinical Network (EPPIC-Net): Opening to applications for non-addictive pain therapeutics
  • NOT-NS-19-043 Notice of Information: Clinical Trials that Explore Non-Addictive Therapeutics for Pain Conditions under the Early Phase Pain Investigation Clinical Network (EPPIC-Net)

Closed Funding Opportunities/Announcements:

  • NOT-NS-22-056 - HEAL Initiative: This is a test
  • RFA-NS-19-036 U24 Early Phase Pain Investigation Clinical Network - Specialized Clinical Centers (Reissue of RFA-NS-19-025)
  • NOT-NS-19-043 Notice of Information: Clinical Trials that Explore Non-Addictive Therapeutics for Pain Conditions under the Early Phase Pain Investigation Clinical Network
  • NOT-NS-19-043 Notice of Information: Clinical Trials that Explore Non-Addictive Therapeutics for Pain Conditions under the Early Phase Pain Investigation Clinical Network
  • RFA-NS-19-023 U24 Early Phase Pain Investigation Clinical Network - Clinical Coordinating Center
  • RFA-NS-19-024 U24 Early Phase Pain Investigation Clinical Network - Data Coordinating Center
  • RFA-NS-19-025 U24 Early Phase Pain Investigation Clinical Network - Specialized Clinical Centers 

Contact:
Barbara I. Karp, M.D., Program Director, NINDS
301-496-9135

Common Fund Program: Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures

Through the NIH Common Fund program, the Directors of NINDS and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) co-chair a working group to lead the Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures program which will develop a set of objective biomarkers that provide a “signature” to predict a transition from acute to chronic pain, in order to accelerate therapy development and ultimately to guide pain prevention strategies.

No Open Funding Opportunities at this time.

Contact:
Linda L. Porter, Ph.D., Office of Pain Policy & Planning, NINDS

Translational Devices to Treat Pain

NIH will support preclinical development, translation, and demonstration of safe, effective, and non-addictive device-based technologies and approaches to treat pain under the Translational Devices to Treat Pain program.

No Open Funding Opportunities at this time.

Closed Funding Opportunities/Announcements:

  • RFA-NS-19-016 UG3/UH3 Exploratory/Developmental Phased Award Cooperative Agreement
  • RFA-NS-19-017 U44 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Cooperative Agreement 
  • RFA-NS-19-018 UH3 Exploratory/Developmental Cooperative Agreement Phase II
  • RFA-EB-18-003 U18 Research Demonstration – Cooperative Agreements
  • RFA-RM-19-001 U01 Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC): Anatomical and Functional Mapping of Pain-Related Visceral Organ Neural Circuitry 

Contact:
Nick Langhals, Program Director, NINDS
Michael Wolfson, Program Director, NIBIB
Gene Civillico, SPARC Program Manager, NIH Common Fund

Pain Management Effectiveness Research Network

The Pain Management Effectiveness Research Network is a broad research effort seeking to improve pain care through understanding the development of chronic pain and by accelerating and improving the process of therapy development to more rapidly move discoveries into clinical practice to alleviate the burden of pain.

No Open Funding Opportunities at this time.

Closed Funding Opportunities/Announcements:

  • RFA-NS-19-021 UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Planning and Implementation Cooperative Agreement 

Contact:
Linda L. Porter, Ph.D., Office of Pain Policy & Planning, NINDS

 

Resources and Tools

Funding Opportunities 

NINDS HEAL Funding Opportunities

NIH HEAL Funded Projects

See all NIH HEAL Funding Opportunities

News & Events

NINDS Advancing Pain Research Through The NIH HEAL Initiative

NIH Director’s Statement on HEAL

NCCIH Research Blog

NCATS Director Statement: Translational Science to Address the Opioid Crisis

NIAMS Director’s Letter on BACPAC

Pain Management ERN Webinar | Dec. 17, 2018

Workshop: Discovery and Validation of Biomarkers to Develop Non-Addictive Therapeutics for Pain | Nov. 14-15, 2018
**archives available on event website

Webinar: Developing Biomarkers for Neurological Disorders and Pain | Oct. 30, 2018
**archives available on event website

Webinar: HEAL Pain Basic Science | Oct. 22, 2018

 

Related Topics 

NIH HEAL Initiative

NIH HEAL Initiative Research Plan

NIH Pain Consortium

Federal Pain Research Strategy

NIDA’s Role in the HEAL Initiative

NCATS’ Role in the HEAL Initiative

NICHD Supported Opioid Research

NIAMS Back Pain Consortium (BACPAC) Research Program

Patient and Caregiver Information:

Pain Information Page