# Data and Methods Core

> **NIH NIH P50** · RAND CORPORATION · 2020 · $393,982

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The opioid crisis is the result of a dynamic process that has been evolving for at least two decades. Tackling
the crisis requires a multi-pronged approach that both accounts for illicit opioid markets and carefully considers
contributing factors at each stage in the potential pathway from opioid initiation to opioid harms. There has
been a substantial increase in research studying the effectiveness and unintended consequences of specific
opioid policies and initiatives. However, the complex policy environment, rapidly evolving nature of the crisis,
potential interactive effects of concurrently passed policies, as well as variation in policy implementation create
significant methodological challenges for policy evaluations. To address these limitations, the objective of the
COPR Data and Methods Core (DMC) is twofold: 1) build the essential infrastructure for maximizing the
efficiency, consistency, and quality of the data and research throughout COPR; and 2) provide a key resource
to the broader scientific community by providing the data needed for policy evaluation, supplying educational
resources on necessary additional controls for understanding the opioid environment, and producing
information on optimal methodological practices for evaluating opioid policies. The DMC’s multi-disciplinary
team will compile multiple databases, undertake multiple causal inference techniques to help develop a set of
methodological guidelines to enhance the scientific rigor of opioid policy research, and serve as a valuable
resource for the development and dissemination of educational materials related to the Center’s data,
methods, and tools. Databases will include findings from a comprehensive review of the literature on the
effectiveness of different policy approaches to the opioid crisis, whereby our team will identify and code
relevant literature through a systematic review to develop an inventory system for flagging articles of particular
types (e.g., using particular causal methods, focused on a particular policy) to support understanding what is
currently known and unknown about the effects of interventions aimed at addressing the crisis. We will also
assess, gather, and prepare raw policy data, covariates, and outcome data on a state-by-year basis (2000-
2020); this substantial undertaking, which will result in a publicly available comprehensive data repository, will
serve as a valuable resource for researchers and the broader scientific community. Leveraging these rich data
sources to examine associations between policies, specific policy components, and opioid outcomes, will both
provide methodological assistance to Research Projects and facilitate development and testing of new
strategies for causal inference. By creating distance learning website, policy briefs, workshop materials, and
training materials for the Data Library, methods, and tools coming from the DMC and COPR Projects, we will
ensure broad dissemination of critical tools and in...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9980869
- **Project number:** 5P50DA046351-03
- **Recipient organization:** RAND CORPORATION
- **Principal Investigator:** Rosalie Liccardo Pacula
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $393,982
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9980869

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9980869, Data and Methods Core (5P50DA046351-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9980869. Licensed CC0.

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