The Albert Einstein College of Medicine has received a $1,534,938 federal Project Grant (Award ID: R01DA060796) from the National Institutes of Health's Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279) to conduct a randomized controlled trial examining the efficacy of an immersive mindfulness-based virtual reality intervention for improving pain and reducing illicit opioid use among individuals with chronic pain and opioid use disorder. The 5-year project will enroll 185 participants at opioid treatment programs in the Bronx, NY and test the VR intervention against a sham VR control. The co-primary outcomes are pain intensity and illicit opioid use at 12 weeks. Additionally, the study will examine the daily effects of the VR intervention on mindfulness, stress, pain, opioid craving, and physiologic stress responses. Columbia University's Health Sciences Division is serving as a sub-awardee on the project, providing expertise in areas like clinical trial implementation, biomedical research, and serving underrepresented populations.
Generated 1/28/25, 7:33 AM