Cunningham currently leads one of the only Federally-funded studies on the use of marijuana for pain management.[16] In 2017, she was awarded a five-year, $3.8 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to investigate the effect of medical marijuana on a cohort of 250 patients in New York State with chronic pain, some of whom are HIV positive and others HIV negative.[17] These patients are otherwise likely to receive opioids to manage their pain, so Cunningham and her colleagues are exploring the impact of medical marijuana as a substitute for pain management and reducing dependency on opioids.[17]