Researching the Puzzles of Chronic Pain
Over 100 million people in the United States suffer from chronic pain. Unfortunately, the treatment profile for many chronic pain conditions is complex and often inadequate. Part of this problem lies in the unknown mechanisms of chronic pain development and control. The Chronic Pain Research Consortium strives to resolve these unknown mechanisms through a collaborative and focused approach to basic science pain research. We are using knowledge from clinicians and patients to ask targeted questions related to pain and pain processing. This approach is inspired in part by the founder of this consortium, who is a chronic pain patient. We believe that current pain management is not adequate for providing long term relief of chronic pain and that better and safer medicines are needed. Below are some of the areas currently being studied by investigators at the Consortium. We are aiming to approach each of the areas in multidisciplinary and wholistic ways, rather than in a purely isolated mechanistic or molecular approach.