About | Pain and Opioid Consortium of Research (CORE)

Consortium of Research

The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Systems Research (HSR) service funds four COnsortia of REsearch: 1) Suicide Prevention, 2) Pain/Opioids, 3) Access, and 4) Virtual Care. The topic areas of the Pain/Opioid CORE are pain (especially nondrug interventions for chronic pain), opioid prescribing, and opioid use disorder.

The goal of the COREs is to support and accelerate collaborative research that will lead to measurable improvements in the care delivered to Veterans in each of these areas by:

Developing a prioritized set of research goals informed by a review of current research, gaps in existing research, and the needs of the Veterans Health Administration, and
Developing a collaborative network of researchers to achieve those goals.

COnsortia of REsearch (COREs):
Work to identify key research priorities and help fill knowledge gaps related to their topic area by:

Conducting reviews of past/current HSR research and operations-funded evaluation portfolios in the priority area, and of existing research roadmaps and operational priorities.
Identifying meaningful and impactful clinical or policy goals in their priority area(s) and developing plans for achieving them.
Serving as a source of information on clinical and administrative data as well as measures and metrics and related to their topic areas, and developing recommendations for common data elements.

Facilitate the development and execution of research and evaluation related to their topic area:

Identifying opportunities for randomized program evaluations of new program initiatives.
Promoting evidence-based practices or innovations that are ready for implementation.
Facilitating coordination and collaboration with VA partners and outside partners, including DoD, HHS, NIH, and private foundations.
Publicizing important new areas of research and cross-cutting issues.
Some CORES may sponsor RFAs on research in their priority area and support related evaluation efforts.

Coordinate and promote communication and collaboration with key program offices to identify data resources, data needs, and potential research priorities by serving as:

A connector between program offices and the research community (including disseminating research findings to program offices and communicating program office priorities to the research community).
A source for program offices to identify expertise. If an operational partner has funds and wants to support evaluation work, CORE leadership can help the operational partner identify appropriate researchers in the CORE’s research network for collaboration.
A means of reviewing the current state of practice and policy to identify priority questions that can be addressed through research and evaluation projects and identify funding mechanisms for addressing them, with input from partners.

Develop an inclusive network of researchers collaborating to further develop evidence in topic areas by:

Facilitating collaborative projects across COINS, non-COIN researchers, and other Centers (e.g., Centers of Excellence and MIRECCs) on priority areas.
Serving as a source for identifying collaborators/mentors within the research community.
Leveraging networks for sharing/disseminating information related to the priority topic area.
Disseminating the progress and findings of research in the designated priority areas through newsletters, briefs, Cyberseminars, and other mechanisms.

COREs do not:

Determine VA’s research or operational funding priorities (though HSR or partners may choose to be informed by CORE recommendations).
Act as gatekeepers to HSR or operational funding, or to program offices.
Write letters of support for IIRs/CDAs/grants.
Serve as consultants tasked with doing evaluation work for operational partners (though COREs may help facilitate the formation of partnerships with operations to complete this work, including the administration of funds for projects that reflect the evaluation needs of operational partners).

Text is reproduced from "What is a CORE?" (January 4, 2021) developed by the Access CORE with input from other HSR COREs.

Principal Investigators

Alicia Heapy, PhD

Dr. Alicia Heapy is the associate director of the Pain Research, Informatics, Multimorbidities, and Education (PRIME) Center of Innovation at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, and associate professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine. She is a health services researcher with expertise in pragmatic and comparative effectiveness trials and technology-based interventions. Her professional goal is to improve patient access to and uptake of psychological interventions for chronic pain.

Areas of interest: chronic pain, psychological interventions for chronic pain, technology-based interventions for chronic pain

Selected Projects:

“Cooperative Pain Education and Self-management: Expanding Treatment for Real-World Access” (PI, NCCIH #UH3AT009767, 09/01/2019 – 08/31/2023)
“Adapting Web-based CBT to Improve Adherence and Outcome for Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder and Chronic Pain Treated with Opioid Agonists” ” (PI, NCCIH #R61AT010619, 03/15/2020 – 02/28/2022)

PubMed Bibliography: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/alicia.heapy.1/bibliography/public/

William Becker, MD

Dr. William Becker is a physician researcher at VA Connecticut Healthcare System and associate professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine. He is a health services researcher with expertise in pragmatic clinical trials and implementation science and is medical director of the Opioid Reassessment Clinic at VA Connecticut. His professional goal is to improve the management of chronic pain and opioid use disorder in primary care.

Areas of interest: chronic pain management, opioid use disorder treatment, care of patients prescribed long-term opioids

Selected Projects:

“Consortium to Disseminate and Understand Implementation of Opioid Use Disorder Treatment” (PI, QUERI PII 19-321, 6/1/19-5/31/2022)
“Whole Health Team vs. Primary Care Group Education to Promote Non-Pharmacological Strategies to Improve Pain, Functioning, and Quality of Life in Veterans” (PI, NCCIH UH3 AT009765-01 1/1/18-12/31/2023)

PubMed Bibliography: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1Zsl7is5Vv9A5/bibliography/public/

Erin Krebs, MD, MPH

Dr. Erin Krebs is chief of general internal medicine at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System and professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School. She is a health services researcher with expertise in comparative effectiveness research and pragmatic clinical trials. She also maintains an active primary care practice with a focus on women’s health. Her professional goal is to improve the management of chronic pain in primary care.

Areas of interest: chronic pain management, benefits and harms of analgesics, care of patients prescribed long-term opioids, patient-reported outcome measures

Selected Projects:

“Comparative Effectiveness of Patient-Centered Strategies to Improve Pain Management and Opioid Safety for Veterans” (PI, PCORI OPD-1511-33052, 11/1/2016-10/31/2022)
“Extended study of a long-term opioid therapy cohort: trajectories in pain care and patient-centered outcomes” (PI, VA HSR IIR 19-083, 3/1/2020-2/28/2025)

PubMed Bibliography: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/erin.krebs.1/bibliography/public/

VA COIN: Erin Krebs - Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research (va.gov)

CORE Staff

Tracy Sides, PhD, MPH, CORE Manager

Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research, Minneapolis, MN

Tracy Sides, PhD, MPH joined VA to coordinate the Pain/Opioid CORE. She has extensive leadership experience in a variety of public health and community-based settings. She worked on the successful Minnesota State tobacco litigation and has led research and evaluation projects for the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and nonprofit organizations. During her tenure at the Minnesota Department of Health and the University of Minnesota she developed and managed public health disease surveillance systems; facilitated national working groups; and led multi-disciplinary policy development initiatives. Dr. Sides is passionate about working at the interface of research, practice, and policy to improve Veterans’ health and well-being. She earned her MPH in epidemiology and Doctorate in public health at the University of Minnesota.

Agnes Jensen, MPH, CORE VEP Facilitator

Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research, Minneapolis, MN

Agnes Jensen, MPH is a health science specialist with extensive experience working both with patient engagement panels and Veterans living with chronic pain. She is a facilitator for both local (to Minneapolis) and national Veteran engagement panels and has worked with the Pain/Opioid CORE Veteran Engagement Panel since its inception. She also has worked as a project coordinator for multiple studies focusing on Veterans living with chronic pain or prescribed opioid therapy for their pain. Ms. Jensen is a Navy Veteran and earned her Bachelor of Science (Economics) from the US Naval Academy before serving as a Naval Officer at sea and ashore. She earned her MPH from the University of Minnesota.

Erin Amundson, MPH, CORE VEP Facilitator

Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research, Minneapolis, MN

Erin Amundson, MPH joined the Pain/Opioid CORE as a VEP Facilitator in 2020. She is a health science specialist and has worked in Veteran engagement since 2017. She is trained in qualitative research, interviewing, coding, as well as in patient engagement and group facilitation. She is especially passionate about patient engagement in research.

Prior to joining the Minneapolis VA Health Care System in 2015, Ms. Amundson lived in California where she worked at Stanford University for ten years as the administrator for a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation career development program and also supported career development at the VA Center for Innovation to Implementation.

Ms. Amundson earned her Bachelor of English from the University of Iowa and her MPH from the University of Minnesota.

Internal Leadership Committee

Partners

Principal Investigators

​CORE Staff

Internal Leadership Committee

COREs build relationships to accelerate collaborative research

Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Program Offices

Other VA HSR Consortia of Research (COREs)

CORE Staff