Overview
Through the Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative®, NIH supports research to enhance pain management and improve treatment for opioid misuse and addiction. The NIH HEAL Initiative includes research focus areas led by most NIH Institutes and Centers supporting hundreds of projects that reflect the full spectrum of research from basic science to implementation research.
HEAL Policy for the Enrollment of Participants in Clinical Trials
Clinical trials to identify and test new safe and effective treatment approaches for opioid use disorder and chronic pain are an essential component of HEAL research. To ensure that such clinical trials are conducted as safely and efficiently as possible, researchers must meet certain requirements when recruiting study participants. These requirements are specified in the HEAL Policy for the Enrollment of Participants in Clinical Trials, which also outlines the responsibilities of Principal Investigators and relevant NIH staff.