Photo: Bryan Goodchild
A new National Institutes of Health award will help a UMass Chan Medical School physician-scientist expand her research into opioid use disorder while mentoring the next generation of clinical researchers.
Stephanie Carreiro, MD, PhD’22, associate professor of emergency medicine, has received a Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The five-year grant supports midcareer investigators who are leaders in patient-oriented research and who demonstrate a strong commitment to mentoring new clinician-scientists.
“This award is unique because it not only supports my career development, but more importantly, it provides opportunities for the faculty and trainees I mentor,” Dr. Carriero said. “It allows me to help investigators at all different stages—predoctoral, postdoctoral and especially junior faculty—build their research careers.”
The award will bolster Carriero’s research on precision medicine and personalized treatment approaches for substance use disorder, with a focus on integrating digital health technologies. Her lab is using wearable sensors and smartphone-based tools to measure physiological data such as withdrawal symptoms, stress, sleep and activity patterns. Those data are combined with psychiatric and biological information to create AI-driven models that could predict how an individual will respond to treatment.
“When people think about precision medicine, they often think about remarkable advances in cancer care or rare genetic diseases,” she explained. “We’re applying the same principles to opioid use disorder—understanding how someone’s biology, environment and day-to-day experiences interact to shape their treatment response. Ultimately, our goal is to tailor care to each individual.”
Beyond advancing her own research, Carriero said one of the most rewarding aspects of her work is training emerging physician-scientists.
“Patient care is incredibly fulfilling, but at the same time medicine is full of unknowns,” she said. “Watching new investigators identify a problem they’re passionate about, pursue it rigorously and then see their findings applied in the clinic is incredibly rewarding. Mentorship helps sustain that sense of purpose and satisfaction in medicine over the span of a career.”
Over the next five years, Carriero hopes to leverage her lab’s infrastructure, technology and data to help rising investigators launch their own research programs.
“My goal is to help emerging researchers feel more secure in an uncertain time,” said Carriero. “When funding doesn’t come through, it’s not just disappointing for scientists—it means discoveries that could help patients don’t reach the community. This award gives me the chance to support others in keeping their innovations moving forward.”
