HEAL Initiative: Pain Research Enhancement Program (PREP) (R15 Clinical Trial Optional)

The HEAL Initiative Pain Research Enhancement Program (PREP) is an R15 grant program designed to support rigorous basic and mechanistic pain research at institutions that have not been major recipients of NIH research funding. The purpose of this initiative is threefold: First, it supports the efforts by R15-eligible Principal Investigators to conduct rigorous basic and/or mechanistic pain research projects. Second, it promotes integrated, interdisciplinary research partnerships between R15-eligible PIs and additional investigators from U.S. domestic institutions. Third, it enhances the pain research environment at the R15-eligible institution for health professional trainees or undergraduate and/or graduate students by actively engaging them in the proposed pain research projects. This program is part of the broader HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) Initiative and addresses critical pain research needs while building research capacity at eligible institutions.