Dr. Merlin's research focuses on chronic pain in people living with HIV (PLWH), and more generally, individuals with comorbid mental illness and addiction. She currently holds a K23 career development award from the National Institute of Mental Health to develop and pilot test a behavioral intervention for chronic pain in PLWH, during which she is pursuing a PhD in health behavior (anticipated graduation 12/2017). She is the PI of the first large-scale national study of chronic pain epidemiology in PLWH, and also leads projects relating to roles of pain sensitivity and inflammation in chronic pain pathogenesis among PLWH and management approaches to concerning behaviors that arise among individuals on long-term opioid therapy.