Preventing Opioid Use Disorder
The Research Need
Older adolescents and young adults (ages 16-30) are at the highest risk for initiation of opioid use, opioid misuse, opioid use disorder (OUD), and death from overdose, and there are no evidence-based interventions to prevent opioid use disorder. In addition, a number of American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) communities have been significantly impacted by the opioid crisis, and are also at the highest risk for suicide and other behavioral health disorders.
About the Program
NIH is supporting a series of studies to develop and test effective strategies to prevent opioid misuse and OUD among vulnerable populations, including older adolescents and young adults and AI/AN communities. The studies will expand knowledge of characteristics that increase risk or confer protection for opioid use and related behavioral health and drug use outcomes, including suicide. The studies will focus on strategies for settings that can identify and reach at-risk individuals and populations, such as health care, justice, school, and child welfare systems.
Through the Helping to End Addiction Long-termSM Initiative, or NIH HEAL InitiativeSM, NIH has awarded 27 research grants as well as funding for a coordinating center to study prevention strategies for at-risk youth transitioning into adulthood, and five supplement awards to facilitate the inclusion of social network characteristics into existing AI/AN studies that address substance use and/or mental health. These awards total approximately $48 million.
The research being undertaken will:
- Target adolescent and young adult populations that are at risk of and particularly affected by opioid misuse and OUD, including American Indians/Alaska Natives, homeless individuals, young people in the juvenile or criminal justice system, and families involved in the child welfare system.
- Create and test strategies to identify at-risk individuals and populations and to deliver prevention interventions and services in health care settings, including emergency departments, school-based health centers, and mental health and substance use behavioral health treatment settings.
- Develop and test interventions for youth in or transitioning out of justice settings.
Research projects in this program will address implementation and sustainability challenges and include cost evaluation and cost analyses.
Research Institution Awards
- Boston Medical Center – Massachusetts
- Brown University – Rhode Island
- Emory University – Georgia
- Indian Health Council, Inc. – California
- Johns Hopkins University – Maryland
- Kaiser Foundation Research Institute – California
- Massachusetts General Hospital – Massachusetts
- New York University School of Medicine – New York
- Ohio State University – Ohio
- Oregon Health and Science University – Oregon
- Oregon Social Learning Center – Oregon
- RAND Corporation – California
- Seattle Children’s Hospital – Washington
- Texas Christian University – Texas
- University of Colorado, Denver – Colorado
- University of Maryland, College Park – Maryland
- University of Michigan at Ann Arbor – Michigan
- University of Oregon – Oregon
- University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh – Pennsylvania
- University of Washington – Washington
- University of Utah – Utah
- Washington University – Missouri
- West Virginia University – West Virginia
- Yale University – Connecticut
Coordinating Center Award
- RTI Institute – North Carolina
Closed Funding Opportunities
Participating NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices
- HEAL Prevention Cooperative (HPC) Profiles - Dec 6, 2021
- HEAL Social Determinants Pre-Application TA Webinar Slides - Jan 6, 2022
- HEAL SDOH RFA Pre-Application Webinar FAQs - Jan 6, 2022
- HEAL Preventing Opioid Use Disorder in Older Adolescents and Young Adults (ages 16-30) FOA Technical Assistance Webinar - Jan 17, 2019
- Preventing Opioid Use Disorder in Older Adolescents and Young Adults (Ages 16-30): Expert Panel Planning Meeting - Sep 26, 2018
View Other Research Programs in This Focus Area
- Optimizing Care for People with Opioid Use Disorder and Mental Health Conditions
- Sleep Dysfunction as a Core Feature of Opioid Use Disorder and Recovery
- Optimizing the Duration, Retention, and Discontinuation of Medication Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder
- Prevention of Progression to Moderate or Severe Opioid Use Disorder