PARC hosts active working groups comprised of clinicians, pre-clinical researchers, and socio-behavioral researchers with the goal of developing written proposals for research funding in the areas of pain and addiction. The groups generally align with PARC’s five major research themes, including: Prevention and Treatment; Education; Disparities; Pediatrics; and Cancer Pain.
PARC’s current working groups, as of summer 2021, focus on professional education across sectors, medication assisted treatments, and pre-clinical studies of pain and addiction. One group is focused on reducing stigma toward people who use drugs through development and evaluation of a curriculum for professionals in substance use treatment, the judicial-legal system, and healthcare providers. A second group is focused on understanding the most effective practices in the treatment of opioid use disorder (Buprenorphine). A third group is developing pain management teaching modules for healthcare providers across UCSF Health.
Additional groups that are in the process of forming include: examination of pediatric and maternal care outcomes with Buprenorphine versus other treatments; consideration of policy and structural elements that affect access to Buprenorphine; and exploration of the molecular action of Buprenorphine to better understand its unique role in the treatment of opioid use disorder. Please contact PARC if you wish to join a working group or suggest a new one.
Working group members are organized across the following broad categories of interests:
Community-based and Policy interventions: Kelly Knight, Joanne Spetz, Dan Ciccarone, Jennifer Cocohoba, Dominika Seidman, Diana Coffa, Heidi Reetz, Ulrike Muench
Best Practices with clinical orientation: Matt Tierney, Scott Steiger, Hannah Snyder, Tricia Wright, Era Kryzhanovskaya, Heidi Reetz, Dominika Seidman, Amber Borucki, Veronika Mesheriakova, Elizabeth Gatewood, Matthias Behrends, Kathy LeSaint
Pre-clinical: Aashish Manglik, Elyssa Margolis, Kevin Yackle, Judith Hellman, Howard Fields