In June 2024, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced plans to pilot a national primary care research network that integrates clinical research with community-based primary care. Now it has chosen three inaugural hubs for its primary care–focused clinical research network.
The new initiative called Communities Advancing Research Equity for Health (CARE for Health) seeks to improve access to clinical research to inform medical care, particularly for those in communities historically underrepresented in clinical research or underserved in healthcare.
NIH is investing approximately $30 million in total over fiscal years 2024 and 2025 in the project. CARE for Health will seek to grow an evidence base that contributes to improved patient outcomes, provide communities access to the best available scientific research and expand opportunities to participate in clinical trials and studies.
The three inaugural Research Network Hubs are at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW), and West Virginia University (WVU). Each of the hubs will serve rural communities and participate in existing NIH-funded clinical studies. CARE for Health will expand the reach of existing NIH-funded studies by matching them to established rural primary care research networks.
The awardee institutions will participate in three ongoing NIH-funded clinical trials that cover a range of topics important to primary healthcare. OHSU will engage two FQHCs with eight clinics in rural locations to participate in a study evaluating a behavioral intervention for chronic, high-impact back pain. This study, Nonpharmacologic Pain Management in FQHC Primary Care Clinics, aims to improve pain management and reduce reliance on prescription pain medication.
Both OHSU and UW will engage a total of three FQHCs and eight clinical locations to participate in a study to treat polysubstance abuse. The study, called Collaborative Care for Polysubstance Use in Primary Care Settings, is testing a collaborative treatment intervention to address opioid use and polysubstance use, which is the unhealthy use of more than one drug, or drug(s), with alcohol.
WVU will conduct research and engage practitioners and communities at six locations across West Virginia to participate in a study for gout. The Treat-to-Target Serum Urate Versus Treat-to-Avoid Symptoms in Gout is a randomized-controlled trial evaluating interventions for gout flares prevention or treatment.
The awardees will engage their rural community partners, as part of the initial focus of the CARE for Health pilot. As NIH develops the infrastructure for CARE for Health, future efforts will broaden the focus to additional populations that are underrepresented in clinical research. Initially, the awardees will participate in existing NIH-funded studies and conduct engagement activities to understand and address the critical clinical questions of highest priority to the primary care providers and communities they serve.
“We eagerly anticipate collaborating with our local partners – primary care providers and patient communities – to tackle the health challenges they identify as most pressing,” said NIH Director Monica Bertagnolli, M.D., in a statement. “These awards will lay the groundwork for primary care-focused clinical research, creating opportunities for people to engage in research that matters to them right where they receive their care.”
