Funded Projects

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Project # Project Title Research Focus Area Research Program Administering IC Institution(s) Investigator(s) Location(s) Year Awarded
1R43NR017575-01A1
Using Virtual Reality Psychological Therapy to Develop a Non-Opioid Chronic Pain Therapy Cross-Cutting Research Small Business Programs NINR COGNIFISENSE, INC. BAEUERLE, TASSILO; CEKO, MARTA ; WEBSTER, LYNN Sunnyvale, CA 2019
NOFO Title: PHS 2017-02 Omnibus Solicitation of the NIH, CDC, and FDA for Small Business Innovation Research Grant Applications (Parent SBIR [R43/R44])
NOFO Number: PA-17-302
Summary:

Chronic pain affects over 100 million Americans, costing society about $600 billion annually. Despite numerous pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies, over 50% of chronic pain sufferers feel little control over their pain. CognifiSense has developed a patent-pending Virtual Reality Psychological Therapy (VRPT), which is designed to create lasting reduction of chronic pain by addressing the maladaptive learning processes driving pain chronification. VRPT is an experiential learning system, which provides the brain a new set of signals that teaches it that the pain is not as bad as it perceived and that it has greater control over the pain than it perceived. VRPT combines the immersive power and the ability to individualize the therapy of Virtual Reality with well-researched principles of self-distancing, self-efficacy, and extinction to retrain the brain. The goal of this study is to determine the clinical feasibility of VRPT in achieving a lasting reduction of chronic pain, establish brain mechanisms associated with treatment response, and collect comprehensive user feedback to enable further refinement of the current product prototype. CognifiSense's VRPT has the potential to be a significant clinical and business opportunity in the treatment of chronic pain.
1R01HL150566-01
Arousal circuitry and opiate-associated memories New Strategies to Prevent and Treat Opioid Addiction Sleep Dysfunction as a Core Feature of Opioid Use Disorder and Recovery NHLBI Stanford University DE LECEA, LUIS (contact); CHEN, XIAOKE Stanford, CA 2019
NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: Sleep and Circadian-Dependent Mechanisms Contributing to Opiate Use Disorder (OUD) and Response to Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) (R01 - Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
NOFO Number: RFA-HL-19-028
Summary:

Repetitive drug use forms powerful memories associating drug-evoked experiences with its proximal environmental cues. Memories are major obstacles for successfully treating addiction, since even after a prolonged period of abstinence, reexposure to such cues often triggers craving that promotes relapse. A polysynaptic pathway from the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) to the lateral hypothalamus (LH) has been shown to play a role in the maintenance of the opioid-associated memories. Hypocretin (Hcrt) neurons in the LH strongly innervate the PVT, required for maintaining wakefulness and involved in drug seeking. These factors may link sleep disorders in opioid addicts with their long-lasting drug-associated memories. This study will (1) determine whether Hcrt neurons in the LH are the major target; (2) examine whether manipulating the LH (Hcrt)-PVT pathway can effectively prevent relapse; and (3) test whether sleep intervention could be an effective strategy to prevent relapse.
1RM1NS128956-01A1
Mechanisms of Action of Peripheral Nerve Stimulation for the Treatment of Chronic Neuropathic Pain Preclinical and Translational Research in Pain Management Translating Discoveries into Effective Devices to Treat Pain NINDS STANFORD UNIVERSITY HAH, JENNIFER (contact); BISWAL, SANDIP; CHADWICK, ANDREA LYNN Stanford, CA 2023
NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: Interdisciplinary Team Science to Uncover the Mechanisms of Pain Relief by Medical Devices (RM1 Clinical Trial Optional)
NOFO Number: RFA-NS-23-003
Summary:

Technology approaches that deliver electrical current through the skin near a damaged or injured peripheral nerve are used to treat chronic neuropathic pain that does not respond to other treatments. This project will optimize this nerve stimulation approach while also determining how the stimulation works to reduce pain in the body. The research will also look for patient characteristics that predict response by conducting a clinical trial comparing combined peripheral nerve stimulation and conventional medical treatment to medication alone.
1R61NS114926-01
SPRINT: Signature for Pain Recovery IN Teens Preclinical and Translational Research in Pain Management Discovery and Validation of Biomarkers, Endpoints, and Signatures for Pain Conditions NINDS STANFORD UNIVERSITY SIMONS, LAURA E Stanford, CA 2019
NOFO Title: Discovery of Biomarkers, Biomarker Signatures, and Endpoints for Pain (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional)
NOFO Number: RFA-NS-18-041
Summary:

Up to 5 percent of adolescents suffer from high-impact chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain, and only about 50 percent with chronic MSK pain who present for treatment recover. Current treatments for chronic MSK pain are suboptimal and have been tied to the opioid crisis. Discovery of robust markers of the recovery versus persistence of pain and disability is essential to develop more resourceful and patient-specific treatment strategies, requiring measurements across multiple dimensions in the same patient cohort in combination with a suitable computational analysis pipeline. Preliminary data has implicated novel candidates for neuroimaging, immune, quantitative sensory, and psychological markers for discovery. In addition, a standardized specimen collection, processing, storage, and distribution system is in place, along with expertise in machine learning approaches to extract reliable and prognostic bio-signatures from a large and complex data set. This project will facilitate risk stratification and a resourceful selection of patients who are likely to respond to current multidisciplinary pain treatment approaches.
1R01DA058694-01
Integrating Tailored Postoperative Opioid Tapering and Pain Management Support for Patients on Long-Term Opioid Use Presenting for Spine Surgery (MIRHIQL) Clinical Research in Pain Management Reducing Opioid-Related Harms to Treat Chronic Pain (IMPOWR and MIRHIQL) NIDA STANFORD UNIVERSITY HAH, JENNIFER Stanford, CA 2023
NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: Multilevel Interventions to Reduce Harm and Improve Quality of Life for Patients on Long Term Opioid Therapy (MIRHIQL) (R01 Clinical Trial Required)
NOFO Number: RFA-DA-23-041
Summary:

Decreasing opioid dosing faster than advised by clinical recommendations often leaves chronic pain unaddressed and may increase the risk of overdose and suicide compared to continuing long-term opioid treatment. Continued, long-term use of opioids after surgery by individuals who use opioids increases the risk of postoperative complications, opioid use disorder, and death. Surgery is a critical point-of-care moment for health care providers to interact with patients who use opioids about continued opioid use when harms outweigh benefits. This project will test of the Motivational Interviewing and guided Opioid Tapering support (MI-Opioid Taper) strategy, with or without a medication that reduces anxiety and relieves pain, at four geographically diverse hospitals across the nation.