HEALTH RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TO STEM THE OPIOID CRISIS: A NATIONAL ROADMAP

As the opioid crisis continues to devastate the United States (U.S.) and its communities, science and technology have been recognized as key components of a comprehensive approach to combat the crisis. Achieving scientific breakthroughs and advancements to help resolve the opioid crisis requires a Federal research portfolio that strategically supports basic, applied, and implementation science. In December 2017, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) convened a Fast Track Action Committee (FTAC) on Health Science and Technology Response to the Opioid Crisis (Opioid FTAC) under the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Committee on Science. The Opioid FTAC was charged with creating a Roadmap for health research and development (R&D), and related science and technology (S&T), to support the President’s opioid response. This Roadmap achieves its purpose in the present report by identifying (1) R&D critical to addressing key gaps in knowledge and tools, and (2) opportunities to improve coordination of R&D essential to combating the opioid crisis.

To organize its efforts and the Roadmap, the Opioid FTAC identified seven areas of R&D: (1) the Biology and Chemistry of Pain and Opioid Addiction; (2) Non-Biological Contributors to Opioid Addiction; (3) Pain Management; (4) Prevention of Opioid Addiction;(5) Treatment of Opioid Addiction and Sustaining Recovery; (6) Overdose Prevention and Recovery; and (7) Community Consequences of Opioid Addiction. The research recommendations generated by the FTAC in each of these areas, as well as an eighth section that includes recommendations on ways to enhance coordination, are summarized below.

The full report can be downloaded below.