News & Updates

Q&A with Dr. Robert Kerns
Bob Kerns, PhD, talks with the NIH Pain Consortium about the NIH-DoD-VA Pain Management Collaboratory (PMC) and the unique opportunities presented by the Collaboratory’s 11 pragmatic clinical trials studying nonpharmacological approaches to chronic pain.

Dr. Robert Kerns Briefs Blumenthal and Murphy Offices on Pain Management Collaboratory
Robert Kerns, Ph.D., gave an overview of the Collaboratory for staffers from the offices of Senator Richard Blumenthal (CT-D) and Senator Christopher Murphy (CT-D). Dr. Kerns highlighted the importance of the PMC in implementing research in integrated, learning health systems.

A Medical Care Special Issue on CIH
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS (DEADLINE HAS PASSED) “Evaluating Implementation and Effectiveness of Complementary and Integrative Health Approaches in the VA and Military Healthcare Systems”

National Pain Newsletter (March 2019)
Dr. Friedhelm Sandbrink, VHA National Program Director for Pain Management discusses the need to assure access and quality of pain care services, and the research that is going into it. Drs. Lauren Hollrah, PsyD and Aram Mardian, MD aim to clear up the confusion around the criteria for DSM-5 diagnosis of Opioid User Disorder with an Education Corner piece. While the VA offers many programs to foster human connections and support, Dr. Heidi Klingbeil, talks about how happier people feel better, and while that sounds easy enough, she encourages physicians to assess the patient as a whole person and develop evaluation skills that are not simply a check off item on a template. Other topics in the newsletter address studies and papers tackling pain management.

Dr. David Shurtleff on the NIH Collaboratory
David Shurtleff, PhD, acting director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), discusses the unique work of the NIH Collaboratory.

Journal of General Internal Medicine (JGIM) Special Supplement (May 2018)
Journal of General Internal Medicine (JGIM) special supplement (May 2018) features state-of-the-art updates on non-pharmacological approaches to chronic musculoskeletal pain management.

JAMA Medical News & Perspectives
Robert Kerns, PhD, spoke with JAMA about the creation of the Pain Management Collaboratory and its goals for this multi-agency initiative.

NIH launches the HEAL Initiative (Helping to End Addition Long-term)
Building on extensive, well-established NIH research, the initiative is a trans-agency effort to speed scientific solutions to stem the national opioid public health crisis.

Robert D. Kerns, PhD, new member of NIH Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee
Robert D. Kerns, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, of Neurology and of Psychology, has been appointed to serve as a member of the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (IPRCC) of the National Institutes of Health.