# Core D: Special Populations

> **NIH NIH P20** · RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL · 2024 · $331,910

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The Community Engaged Research Core (CERC) of the COBRE on Opioids and Overdose, formerly the
Special Populations Core in Phase 1, promotes research among people who are impacted by opioids and
overdose, particularly people who are vulnerable and underserved. The CERC supports the overall mission of
the COBRE by building research infrastructure and providing services to early-stage investigators to support
the recruitment and retention of vulnerable and underserved individuals as research participants and promotes
the importance of community engagement with the goal of developing more robust, rigorous, and competitive
research projects. Guided by the conceptual and theoretical framework of Community Engaged and
Participatory Research, the CERC focuses on addressing the opioid epidemic by supporting and expanding
community-engaged research. The near-term goals of the CERC are to support Project Leaders and pilot-
funded investigators in the conduct of community-engaged research related to opioids and overdose. The long-
term goals of the CERC are to build a sustainable research infrastructure to support research involving people
impacted by opioids and overdose, particularly people from vulnerable and underserved communities, across
Rhode Island Hospital and affiliated institutions. The CERC promotes clinical, behavioral, and translational
research inclusive of community perspectives through four specific aims. Aim 1) Develop, promote, and
support best practices related to community engagement in research on opioids and overdose by a) offering
trainings and consultations to COBRE-supported investigators, affiliated researchers, and community partner
organizations on the Core’s five Principles of Community Empowered Research; b) maintaining and promoting
the established community advisory board to advise COBRE investigators at all stages of research; and c)
developing and implementing standards for trauma-informed research for COBRE projects. Aim 2) Promote
and support the ethical conduct of research on opioids and overdose by: a) providing regulatory support and
consultation services for human subjects research; b) creating project-specific advisory panels comprised of
researchers and community stakeholders to provide guidance on study design, implementation, and
dissemination activities; and c) providing mentoring in traditional research ethics and the ethics of community-
engaged research. Aim 3) Promote research on Harm Reduction (HR) by: a) facilitating HR research
presentations/workshops and offering HR trainings to community partners; b) supporting investigators
conducting HR research by engaging with HR organizations and people who use drugs; and 3) supporting drug
checking research within impacted communities. Aim 4) Promote the role of community engagement in
achieving rigor and reproducibility by: 1) mentoring new investigators on integrating community-engaged
research into study design, recruitment, data collection, and ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10923918
- **Project number:** 5P20GM125507-07
- **Recipient organization:** RHODE ISLAND HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** CURT G BECKWITH
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $331,910
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-01 → 2028-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10923918

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10923918, Core D: Special Populations (5P20GM125507-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10923918. Licensed CC0.

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