News & Events

Recent Events


On Thursday, June 30, from noon-1pm, CHAMPP Co-Director Dr. Hailey Bulls gave a presentation for the Health Services Research Seminar Series entitled "Cancer, Pain, and Opioids: Intersecting Challenges." 
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CHAMPP event with Dr. Green


CHAMPP Special Launch Event was held on January 26, 2021
We were thrilled to have guest speaker Dr. Carmen Green at our first special launch event, co-hosted with PCPR. Dr. Green is a nationally renowned pain scholar and will be speaking on disparities in pain care, a topic that is of great importance to the field and a priority for CHAMPP. During this event, Core Investigators introduced CHAMPP, Dr. Green presented "The unequal burdens and unheard voices of chronic pain: Causes and consequences", and participants had the opportunity for Q&A.

Recent News


Opioids are a cornerstone of cancer pain management, but there is a lack of consensus on how to treat pain in cancer patients who also have struggled with opioid use disorder or prescription opioid misuse. In a study published today in JAMA Oncology, CHAMPP Director Dr. Jessica Merlin and first author Katie Fitzgerald Jones MSN outline guidance for treating such patients and highlight obstacles and opportunities for better integration of addiction treatment in cancer care.

Read the press release at https://www.upmc.com/media/news/063022-opioid-misuse and the JAMA Oncology study at https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoncology/article-abstract/2793858.
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Congratulations to CHAMPP Co-Director Dr. Hailey Bulls for being awarded a National Cancer Institute K08 on October 18, 2022, "Development and Piloting of an Intervention to Reduce the Impact of Opioid Stigma on Cancer Pain."

Primary mentors for this grant include Dr. Jessica Merlin & Dr. Yael Schenker, as well as Burel Goodin, Jane Liebschutz, Antoinette Wozniak, Andrew Althouse, & Jessica Burke as co-mentors.
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Congratulations to CHAMPP Director Dr. Jessica Merlin, who on December 1, 2022 was promoted to Professor of Medicine with tenure in the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine's Division of General Internal Medicine!
Congratulations to CHAMPP Co-Director Dr. Hailey Bulls on being accepted into the Behavioral Medicine Diversity Institute for Emerging Leaders AND for being selected as an Honorable Mention for the HEAL Director’s Trailblazer Award! 
Both of our directors received honors at the 2023 NIH HEAL Initiative Investigator Meeting - Dr. Jessica Merlin received the NIH HEAL Director's Award for Mentorship, and Dr. Hailey Bulls received Honorable Mention for the NIH Director's Trailblazer Award! Congratulations!
In a new paper from CHAMPP investigators, pain catastrophizing and multisite pain contribute to the chronic cancer-related pain experienced by cancer survivors. Read more on how palliative care nurses are well positioned to improve chronic pain at the Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing.
Drs. Charles Jonassaint and Cristina Murray-Krezan received a new NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute UG3 grant for PRESENCE: Peer suppoRt for adolescents and Emerging adults with Sickle cell pain: promoting ENgagement in Cognitive behavioral thErapy.