Pain Research Center

Several research projects are underway, including projects tackling the central hypothesis that an abnormal balance of afferent nociceptive input and efferent modulation can produce chronic pain. Participants will be identified and recruited via partnerships with relevant Institutes and Centers (ICs) and enrolled in the multi-institute pain phenotyping protocol.

Select list of current projects:

Neural and psychological mechanisms of pain perception 

• PI: Lauren Atlas; ICs: NCCIH, NIMH, NIDA*

Sociocultural and biobehavioral influences on pain expression and assessment 

• PI: Lauren Atlas; ICs: NCCIH, NIMH, NIDA

Study of patients with rare somatosensory processing disorders to uncover new mechanisms in pain genetics and neurobiology 

• PIs: Carsten Bönnemann, Alexander Chesler, Claire LePichon, Catherine Bushnell; ICs: NINDS, NCCIH, NICHD

Blocking mechanoreceptors to treat tactile allodynia 

• PI: Alexander Chesler; ICs: NCCIH, NINDS, NCATS

Developing iPSC technologies for disease modeling and personalized pain medicine 

• PIs: Alexander Chesler, Carsten Bönnemann; ICs: NCCIH, NINDS, NCATS

Phase I randomized, triple-blind clinical trial using Resiniferatoxin, a non-opioid medication, for the management of surgical incision pain 

• PIs: Andrew Mannes, David S. Schrump, Michael Iadarola, Catherine Bushnell; ICs: NCCIH, CC, NCI

Fibrous dysplasia (FD): Researchers in NIDCR are studying a rare non-inherited bone disease arising from an R201 missense mutation of the GNAS gene 

• PIs: Allison Boyce, Michael Collins, Catherine Bushnell; ICs: NIDCR, NCCIH

Understanding mechanisms of chronic pain utilizing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) model in patients with sickle cell disease 

• PIs: Swee Lay Thein, Zenaide Quezado, Catherine Bushnell; ICs: CC, NCCIH, NHLBI