Health Services Research & Development
03/30/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/30/2026 14:00
HSR's Pain/Opioid CORE Receives Award for Excellence in Veteran Engagement
March 30, 2026
(From left to right) Veteran Evelyn Lewis and Tracy Sides, PhD, MPH, of the Pain/Opioid CORE
HSR's Pain/Opioid Consortium of Research (Pain/Opioid CORE) received the U.S. Association for the Study of Pain's (USASP) 2026 Excellence in Engagement Award, which recognizes outstanding, meaningful, and sustained engagement of people with lived experience across the research lifecycle.
The USASP highlighted the Pain/Opioid CORE engagement team's meaningful partnerships and contributions to individual research projects as well as its leadership in advancing engagement excellence in pain research across VA and beyond.
The Pain/Opioid CORE has demonstrated a longstanding commitment to Veteran engagement, with activities such as hosting a monthly consultation studio in which investigators and members of the CORE's Veteran Engagement Panel (VEP) discuss study design, dissemination and implementation of results, and other aspects of research projects. The CORE has also promoted meaningful engagement in pain research by sharing its engagement practices, tools, and resources with others through publications, presentations, and technical assistance.
Veteran and VEP member Evelyn Lewis, and Tracy Sides, PhD, MPH, Engagement Lead of the Pain/Opioid CORE and investigator with HSR's Center for Care Delivery and Outcomes Research (CCDOR), accepted the award on behalf of the Pain/Opioid CORE engagement team during a ceremony on March 26.
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