The Latest in Opioid and Pain Research

Quarterly Newsletter, October 2022

What's going on with POPI?

The past year for POPI has been one of awareness, promotion and opportunity.

From the 3rd annual 2021 McGraw Opioid Innovator Awards, the 1st annual Walk for POPI 5K event and National Opioid and Substance Awareness Day, POPI has been full speed ahead with carrying it's mission!

Read on for details on this year's events and other opportunities for funding and education.

Past Year Highlights

McGraw Opioid Innovator Awards

2021 Marked the 3rd Annual McGraw Family Opioid Awards and Shark Tank Event. The generous support of the McGraw family made way for two very important projects in opioid and pain innovation research to gain its bearings.

1st Place $50,000

Primavera Spagnolo, MD, PhD

Department of Psychiatry & Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology

Project: Endocannabinoids and Opioids: Investigating the effects of palmitoylethanolamide in stress-induced craving, hyperalgesia and negative affect in opioid use disorder

For information on other finalists and their projects Click Here.

2nd Place: $25,000

Anupama Mehta, MD

Medical Director, Burn Program

Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

Project: Can Olfactory Virtual Reality reduce opioid consumption and improve tolerance in burn patients undergoing dressing changes? A pilot study

WALK FOR POPI 5K

The Inaugural Walk for POPI 5K event was held on April 30, 2022 at Boston's Historic Franklin Park. The funds raised for this event help support the POPI's administrative functions and the overall mission of POPI to support it's innovators. This first year event featured BWH and MGH volunteers and participants, free covid test kit give aways, physical therapy sessions with Dimock's Bay State Physical Therapy, LIVE MUSIC and more!

POPI's goal is to make this an annual event. It's not too late to give! Click HERE to GIVE.

Visit our POPI DONATE PAGE HERE to support year round.

National Opioid and Substance Use Awareness Day 2022 - NOSAD

The 3rd Annual National Opioid and Substance Awareness Day (NOSAD) was held September 13th from Noon- 3p.m, Hosted by POPI and BCORE, this virtual event featured remarks from Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, a panel discussion from HHS, CDC and SAMSHA, presentations from BWH, and testimonials from persons with lived experience. Free online screenings for Substance Use and Mental Health were available to attendees. This event was free and open to the public!

Please visit our landing page HERE for more information about the event and speakers.

View Full Event Below

In the News

Uptick in Fentanyl and OUD Deaths

The aftermath of COVID-19 has cautioned providers and community leaders to zoom in on

the rise in fentanyl and opioid use deaths.

Amongst adolescents, Between 2019 and 2020, overdose mortality increased by 94.03% and from 2020 to 2021 by 20.05%

Drug overdose death rates among Black people living in the United States rose significantly from 2019 to 2020, outpacing the overdose death rates of White people for the first time in over 20 years.

For more information visit attached links or visit cdc.gov for more provisional data.

READ MORE ON RACIAL DISPARITIES

Federal and Private Funding Opportunities

Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Preclinical and Clinical Studies of the Interactions of Opioids and Stimulants Notice Number

The National Institute on Drug Abuse is issuing this Notice to highlight its interest in preclinical and clinical research to advance the understanding of the effects of concomitant use of opioids and stimulants. The use of opioids, such as heroin and fentanyl, together with stimulants, such as methamphetamine and cocaine, is increasing; and deaths attributed to using these combinations are likewise increasing.

(FOA) Number: NOT-DA-20-007

Due Date: September 7, 2023

Notice of Special Interest: Research on Pain, Pain Management, and Opioids in Aging

The purpose of this Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) is to highlight that the National Institute on Aging (NIA) is interested in receiving grant applications focused on pain, pain management, and opioids related to aging or older adults and within NIA’s mission areas. This NOSI invites research applications that focus on improving the understanding of mechanisms underlying pain experience with aging; enhancing assessment, prevention, and management strategies for pain in older adults; and improving health equity of aging populations suffering with pain.

(FOA) Number: NOT-AG-22-004

Due Date: January 7, 2025

Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Implementation of Clinical Care Guidelines on Opioid Prescribing for Pain Management

NOSI seeks applications that will test multifaceted implementation strategies for evidence-based clinical guidelines on opioid prescribing for pain management, in order to (1) increase guideline-concordant clinical care behaviors; (2) generate measurable, timely, and sustainable changes in clinical behavior across entire healthcare systems; and (3) improve patient outcomes.

(FOA) Number: NOT-DA-20-038

Due Date: January 7, 2023

Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Research on Co-morbid Substance Use, Substance Use Disorders, and Other Psychiatric Disorders

The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to encourage epidemiological, clinical, and translational research that will increase our understanding of the natural history, prevalence, biological mechanisms, psychological variables, and clinical risk factors responsible for the presence of multiple chronic pain conditions in people with pain. The main objective of this FOA is the formation of research groups with interests bridging expertise in pain mechanisms with translational and clinical expertise to address important unresolved questions about overlapping pain conditions.

(FOA) Number: NOT-DA-20-004

Due Date: May 8, 2023

HEAL Initiative: Research to Foster an Opioid Use Disorder Treatment System Patients Can Count On (RM1 - Clinical Trial Optional)

Specifically, NIDA seeks applications for multi-project RM1 Opioid Use Disorder Quality Measurement and Management Research Centers (OUD-QM2RCs). OUD-QM2RCs will involve researchers and a partner with a deployed or in-development quality measurement strategy for opioid use disorder treatment that rigorous, scientific research could substantially advance. The ultimate goal is the creation of feasible, efficient quality measurement systems that provide meaningful information to help patients, families, and payors fairly compare and select providers and to help clinicians and providers improve patient outcomes. Activities should support the acceptability of the quality measurement and management system to patients, clinicians, and providers; the feasibility, scalability, and sustainability of the system; and equity in clinician/provider selection and treatment delivery.

(FOA) Number: RFA-DA-23-046

Due Date: January 2, 2023

HEAL Initiative Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Development and Validation of Pain-Related Models and Endpoints to Facilitate Non-Addictive Analgesic Discovery

The purpose of this Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) is to encourage the development, validation, and replication of animal models that recapitulate the phenotypic and physiologic characteristics of a defined pain type/indication and/or disease-associated pain condition and endpoints or outcome measures that can be used therein. The goal of this NOSI is to improve the translational application of animal models and/or outcome measures for the development of non-addictive analgesics. Ideally, models or measures proposed for this NOSI would have the potential to provide feasible and meaningful assessments of efficacy following therapeutic intervention that would be applicable in both preclinical and clinical settings.

(FOA) Number: NOT-NS-22-095

Due Date: June 25, 2025

For more OUD and Pain related funding opportunities visit Funding

Featured Innovator Publications

Maria Edelen, PhD - Patient Reported Outcomes Value and Experience (PROVE) Center, Department of Surgery

Development and testing of a standardized pain interview assessment for use in post-acute care, April, 2022

Pain is highly prevalent among patients in post-acute care (PAC) settings and can affect quality of life, treatment outcomes, and transitions in care. Routine, accurate assessment of pain across settings is important for pain management and care planning; however, existing PAC assessment instruments do not assess patient pain in a standardized manner. Dr. Edelen developed and tested a set of pain interview data elements for use across PAC settings that assesses six pain constructs: presence; frequency; interference with sleep; interference with rehabilitation therapies; interference with daily activities; worst pain; and pain relief from treatments/medications.

Richard Urman MD, MBA - Anesthesiology Perioperative and Pain Medicine

Opioid Use Disorder and Racial/Ethnic Health Disparities: Prevention and Management, February, 2022

Dr. Richard Urman conducted and published research on the racial and ethnic disparities within OUD. Hispanic and Latin populations have the most significant proportion of youth with OUD and often lack culturally appropriate translation services that allow for effective treatment to combat the disorder. Native Americans have the second highest rate of OUD and often receive care in communities that lack funding for healthcare. African Americans tend to suffer from the criminalization of OUD and are less able to seek treatment. While White patients traditionally receive more pain management, they are also at higher risk of developing OUD.

Beverly Philip, MD - Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

A multisociety organizational consensus process to define guiding principles for acute perioperative pain management, February, 2022

The US Health and Human Services Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force initiated a public-private partnership which led to the publication of its report in 2019. The report emphasized the need for individualized, multimodal, and multidisciplinary approaches to pain management that decrease the over-reliance on opioids, increase access to care, and promote widespread education on pain and substance use disorders. The Task Force specifically called on specialty organizations to work together to develop evidence-based guidelines. In response to this report's recommendations, a consortium of 14 professional healthcare societies committed to a 2-year project to advance pain management for the surgical patient and improve opioid safety.

Eli Sayegh, MD - Orthopedic Surgery

Defining the Opioid Requirement in Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction, January, 2022

The amount and duration of opioids necessary after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) are inadequately defined. Dr. Sayegh’s study sought to prospectively (1) define the amount and duration of opioid consumption, (2) investigate the relationship between preoperative pain expectation and postoperative satisfaction with pain management, and (3) identify risk factors for increased opioid use after ACLR. The study demonstrated on average 15.3 opioid tablets over 5.3 days provided satisfactory pain management after ACLR. Risk factors for increased opioid consumption included preoperative opioid use.

Christopher Cheung, MD - Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

Postoperative Pain Management in Enhanced Recovery Pathways, January, 2022

Postoperative pain is a common but often inadequately treated condition. Enhanced recovery pathways (ERPs) are increasingly being utilized to standardize perioperative care and improve outcomes. ERPs employ multimodal postoperative pain management strategies that minimize opioid use and promote recovery. While traditional opioid medications continue to play an important role in the treatment of postoperative pain, ERPs also rely on a wide range of non-opioid pharmacologic therapies as well as regional anesthesia techniques to manage pain in the postoperative setting. This article reviews the current evidence and knowledge gaps pertaining to commonly utilized modalities for postoperative pain management in ERPs.