Researchers at the University of New Mexico's new Center on Alcohol, Substance use And Addiction (CASAA) have been awarded a $10 million grant to fund two studies aimed at improving lives by helping people who struggle with both chronic pain and opioid addiction.
The grant came from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health, according to a press release from the University of New Mexico.
"I am passionate about finding ways to use science to improve people's lives," Matthew Pearson, UNM associate professor, said in the release. "Our center is dedicated to keeping our focus on our shared goal: improve the lives of people suffering from chronic pain and problematic opioid use. This center brings so many of my amazing colleagues together, and I am truly excited to see what we can accomplish together."
The grant will allow UNM's Integrative Management of Chronic Pain and Opioid use disorder for Whole Recovery (UNM IMPOWR Center) to implement studies that focus on more holistic ways to treat opioid use disorders and chronic pain, according to the release.
The release stated that two major studies, the HOPE Trial and the OPTIC Trial, will be implemented according to UNM Regents' Professor Katie Witkiewitz, with the goal of quickly moving treatments from theory to real world application.