Funded Projects

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Project #	Project Title	Research Focus Area	Research Program	Administering IC	Institution(s)	Investigator(s)	Location(s)	Year Awarded Sort descending
1U18EB029351-01 Show Summary	Development of an MRgFUS system for precision-targeted neuromodulation of pain circuits with simultaneous functional MRI	Preclinical and Translational Research in Pain Management	Translating Discoveries into Effective Devices to Treat Pain	NIBIB	VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER	CASKEY, CHARLES F (contact); CHEN, LI MIN ; GRISSOM, WILLIAM A	Nashville, Tennessee	2019
NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: Translational Development of Devices to Treat Pain (U18 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) NOFO Number: RFA-EB-18-003 Summary: This project aims to develop a next-generation noninvasive neuromodulation system for non-addictive pain treatments. The research team will build an integrated system that uses magnetic resonance image-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) stimulation to target pain regions and circuits in the brain with high precision. The system will use MR imaging to locate three pain targets commonly used in clinical pain treatments, to stimulate those targets with ultrasound, and to monitor responses of nociceptive pain circuits using a functional MRI readout. Three collaborating laboratories will tackle the goals of this project: (Aim 1) Develop focused ultrasound technology for neuromodulation in humans, compatible with the high magnetic fields in an MRI scanner. (Aim 2) Develop MRI technology to find neuromodulation targets, compatible with focused ultrasound transducers. (Aim 3) Validate the complete MRgFUS neuromodulation system in brain pain regions in nonhuman primates. By the end of the project, the research team will have a fully developed and validated MRgFUS system that is ready for pilot clinical trials in pain management.
1UG3AR077360-01 Show Summary	A sequenced-strategy for improving outcomes in patients with knee osteoarthritis pain	Clinical Research in Pain Management	Pain Management Effectiveness Research Network (ERN)	NIAMS	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY	COHEN, STEVEN P (contact); CAMPBELL, CLAUDIA MICHELLE; CASTILLO, RENAN C	Baltimore, MD	2019
NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: Pain Management Effectiveness Research Network: Clinical Trial Planning and Implementation Cooperative Agreement (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Required) NOFO Number: RFA-NS-19-021 Summary: The goal of this proposal is to conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of conservative behavioral and nonopioid pharmacological treatments (Phase I) and, among nonresponders, the benefits of nonsurgical procedural interventions (Phase II). Aim 1 will evaluate the effectiveness of individual and combined online cognitive behavioral therapy (painTRAINER) and pharmacologic treatment (duloxetine) in improving pain and function for knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients compared with standard of care. Aim 2 will determine if genicular nerve radiofrequency ablation or intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid and steroid is more effective in improving outcomes than local anesthetic nerve block or standard of care and help establish the role of these interventional treatments in the overall management of pain in KOA patients. Aim 3 will test whether clinical and psychosocial phenotypes predict short- and long-term treatment response.
1RF1NS113883-01 Show Summary	Sympathetic-mediated sensory neuron cluster firing as a novel therapeutic target for neuropathic pain	Preclinical and Translational Research in Pain Management	Discovery and Validation of Novel Targets for Safe and Effective Treatment of Pain	NINDS	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY	DONG, XINZHONG	Baltimore, MD	2019
NOFO Title: Discovery and Validation of Novel Targets for Safe and Effective Pain Treatment (R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) NOFO Number: RFA-NS-18-043 Summary: An important component of neuropathic pain is spontaneous or ongoing pain, such as burning pain or intermittent paroxysms of sharp and shooting pain, which may result from abnormal spontaneous activity in sensory nerves. However, due to technical limitations, spontaneous activity in sensory neurons in vivo has not been well studied. Using in vivo imaging in genetically-modified mice, preliminary findings identified spontaneously-firing clusters of neurons formed within the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) after traumatic nerve injury that exhibits increased spontaneous pain behaviors. Furthermore, preliminary evidence has been collected that cluster firing may be related to abnormal sympathetic sprouting in the sensory ganglia. This project will test the hypothesis that cluster firing is triggered by abnormal sympathetic inputs to sensory neurons, and that it underpins spontaneous paroxysmal pain in neuropathic pain models. Findings from this project will identify potential novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of neuropathic pain.
1R34DA050292-01 Show Summary	HEALthy ORCHARD: Developing plans for a Baltimore site of the HEALthy BCD study	Enhanced Outcomes for Infants and Children Exposed to Opioids	HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (HBCD)	NIDA	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY	FALLIN, M DANIELE	Baltimore, MD	2019
NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study (HEALthy BCD) (R34 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) NOFO Number: RFA-DA-19-036 Summary: Researchers will expand a recently initiated pregnancy cohort at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) called ORCHARD (ORigins of Child Health And Resilience in Development) to create a Baltimore HEALthy BCD site, named HEALthy ORCHARD. The research team will convene investigators at JHU and the Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI), and community partners across nine work groups to: (1) develop protocols for recruitment and retention of pregnant mothers and children with enriched sampling of pregnant women who are using substances; (2) establish community, medical, and government partnerships necessary to implement recruitment, retention, data collection and community benefits; (3) characterize the critical ethical and legal challenges raised during study design, in pilot studies, and by prospective participants, and propose solutions where possible and additional research where necessary; (4) develop protocols for longitudinal data collection across pregnancy and childhood; and (5) contribute to multi-site protocol development and nationally relevant principles regarding ethical and legal issues.
1U18EB029257-01 Show Summary	Temporal Patterns of Spinal Cord Stimulation	Preclinical and Translational Research in Pain Management	Translating Discoveries into Effective Devices to Treat Pain	NIBIB	DUKE UNIVERSITY	GRILL, WARREN M	Durham, NC	2019
NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: Translational Development of Devices to Treat Pain (U18 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) NOFO Number: RFA-EB-18-003 Summary: This project will design and test optimized temporal patterns of stimulation to improve the efficacy of commercially available spinal cord stimulation (SCS) systems to treat chronic neuropathic pain. Researchers will build upon a validated biophysical model of the effects of SCS on sensory signal processing in neurons within the dorsal horn of the spinal cord to better understand how to improve the electrical stimulus patterns applied to the spinal cord. They will use sensitivity analyses to determine the robustness of stimulation patterns to variations in electrode positioning, selectivity of stimulation, and biophysical properties of the dorsal horn neural network. Researchers will demonstrate improvements from these new stimulus patterns by 1) measuring their effects on pain-related behavioral outcomes in a rat model of chronic neuropathic pain and by 2) quantifying the effects of optimized temporal patterns on spinal cord neuron activity. The outcome will be mechanistically derived and validated stimulus patterns that are significantly more efficacious than the phenomenologically derived standard of care patterns; these patterns could be implemented with either a software update or minor hardware modifications to existing SCS products.