Research and Mentoring in Innovative Patient Oriented Pain and Opioid Science

Project Summary: The primary goals of this K24 application are to allow Beth Darnall, PhD to (1) provide high- quality and intensive mentorship of early-career investigators in patient-oriented research (POR); and (2) acquire new training in research methodologies to support expansion of digital health research in populations on the continuum of opioid use disorder. A K24 award will provide Dr. Darnall with the critical protected time for POR and mentoring that would otherwise be spent on administrative and clinical responsibilities. Dr. Darnall is Associate Professor and Director of the Stanford Pain Relief Innovations Lab at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Darnall proposes to extend her line of research on scalable digital behavioral medicine to people with comorbid chronic pain and prescription opioid misuse, and then conduct a national virtual randomized controlled trail to investigate impacts on pain and opioid outcomes. Her mentoring plan includes structured mentoring in: (1) designing and implementing POR studies; (2) preparing scientific papers and presentations; (3) writing and submitting successful research grant applications; (4) ethical and responsible conduct of research; and (5) professionalism and successful navigation of the academic process to achieve scientific independence. Trainees will be derived from multiple current sources including the Stanford Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), the Pain Division's NIDA T32 program on pain and substance use disorder, the Pain Division's pain psychology and board certified pain physician fellowship programs, the Stanford fellowship for the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE), and her multiple active national and international research collaborations. Dr. Darnall will accomplish her mentoring plan through a combination of individual and group meetings, collaborative mentoring, role modeling, and participation in interdepartmental lectures and at national meetings. Additionally, she will closely integrate her mentees into the Stanford CTSA mentoring program and the extensive offerings of the Stanford Office for Faculty Diversity and Development, including the NIH K-series and R-series grant intensive writing programs. Her career development plan includes training in digital health design to optimize digital behavioral treatments for enhanced user engagement and response, as well as trainings in implementation science, opioid policy, and advanced mentoring from the Stanford Faculty Leadership Program. Dr. Darnall has outstanding resources, long- standing successful research collaborations, and a substantial active funding portfolio. The proposed K24 research and other planned projects are expected to lead to new directions and innovations in research on pain and the continuum of opioid use disorder, and significantly contribute to our scientific understanding of these disabling conditions. Dr. Darnall will leverage the K24 and her existing resources to provide crucial training to the next generation of scientists dedicated to conducting impactful patient-oriented research.