AUTHOR=Karp Barbara Illowsky , Baker Rebecca G. 

TITLE=Pain management research from the NIH HEAL Initiative

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pain Research

VOLUME=Volume 4 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pain-research/articles/10.3389/fpain.2023.1266783

DOI=10.3389/fpain.2023.1266783

ISSN=2673-561X

ABSTRACT=This arCcle presents an overview of the pain research programs within the NaConal InsCtutes of Health (NIH) Helping to End AddicCon Long-term® IniCaCve, or NIH HEAL IniCaCve®. Launched in 2018 to address the opioid crisis, the NIH HEAL IniCaCve supports research on addicCon prevenCon and treatment. A key component of addicCon prevenCon is the development of new, effecCve, non-addicCve treatments for acute and chronic pain. HEAL's innovate research porbolio spans the spectrum from therapeuCc discovery and development through clinical trials and into clinical pracCce.Chronic pain is a significant public health concern affecCng approximately 20% of adults in the United States. About 4% of these individuals experience high impact pain that interferes substanCally with major acCviCes. Research and clinical experience have contributed to a conCnuously evolving understanding of pain. Historically iniCally considered associated with Cssue damage, current concepts incorporate appreciaCon of pain as a biopsychosocial phenomenon.(1) The InternaConal AssociaCon for the Study of Pain (IASP) updated its definiCon of pain in 2020 (2). The IASP broadly classifies pain into i) nocicepCve (pain arising from actual or threatened damage to non-neural Cssue, due to acCvaCon of nociceptors), ii) neuropathic (pain arising as a direct consequence of a lesion or disease affecCng somatosensory systems), and iii) nociplasCc pain (pain arising from altered nocicepCon despite no clear evidence of actual or threatened Cssue damage or lesion of the somatosensory system). The