Jessica Merlin, MD, PhD, MBA

Director, CHAMPP Clinical Research Center
Professor of Medicine with Tenure, Division of General Internal Medicine

Dr. Merlin is the founding director of CHAMPP. She is a Professor of Medicine with Tenure in the Division of General Internal Medicine and an internist holding additional training/board certification in infectious diseases, palliative care, and addiction medicine. Dr. Merlin has directed multidisciplinary chronic pain clinics embedded in HIV patient-centered medical homes, first at the 1917 Clinic at UAB and now at the Pittsburgh AIDS Center for Treatment at Pitt.

PI, Assessing the Transition from Acute to Chronic Cancer Pain (AtTACC Pain) Study
PI, Cannabis Multidisciplinary Education and Research (CAMERA)
PI, Consensus-based algorithms to address opioid misuse behaviors among individuals prescribed long-term opioid therapy: developing implementation strategies and pilot testing
PI, Consensus-based approach to managing opioids, including opioid misuse and opioid use disorder, in patients with serious illness
PI, Mentoring the next generation of researchers at the intersection of opioid use disorder and chronic pain
PI, Opioid therapy for pain in individuals with metastatic cancer: benefits, harms and stakeholder perspectives
PI, Evaluation of the efficacy and mechanisms of a novel intervention for chronic pain tailored to people living with HIV: Skills To Manage Pain (STOMP)
PI, Tailored Retention and Engagement for Equitable Treatment of OUD and Pain (TREETOP)

Education & Training

PhD, Health Education/Promotion, University of Alabama and Birmingham, 2017
MD, University of Pennsylvania, 2005
MBA, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business, 2005
BS, Biology, History, & Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, 2000

Representative Publications

A list of Dr. Merlin's publications can be found on the CHAMPP Publications page or at the National Library of Medicine.

Research Interests

Dr. Merlin's research focuses on chronic pain and opioid misuse in individuals with serious illnesses including HIV and cancer, and spans pathophysiology, clinical epidemiology, behavioral intervention development and testing, and implementation science. More recently, Dr. Merlin merged her research interests in chronic pain and opioid misuse/use disorder with her research interests in the care of persons with serious illness.