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.