Funded Projects

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Project # Project Title Research Focus Area Research Program Administering IC Institution(s) Investigator(s) Location(s) Year Awarded
1R44DA049493-01
A Prescription Digital Therapeutic to Promote Adherence to Buprenorphine Pharmacotherapy for Patients with Opioid Use Disorder Cross-Cutting Research Small Business Programs NIDA PEAR THERAPEUTICS, INC. KERN, AUDREY; PALLONE, DAVINA Boston, MA 2019
NOFO Title: Loyalty and Reward-Based Technologies to Increase Adherence to Substance Use Disorder Pharmacotherapies (R43/R44 - Clinical Trial Optional)
NOFO Number: RFA-DA-19-014
Summary:

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a key driver of the current opioid epidemic in the United States, but nearly 80% of individuals with OUD do not receive treatment. Buprenorphine medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is an effective form of care for OUD. This project will develop a state-of-the-art, digital therapeutic tool that effectively promotes buprenorphine adherence by providing contingency management rewards and educational content and enables home induction using a new self-monitoring support tool. This tool, named reSET-O+, will be integrated with Pear Therapeutics’ reSET-O, an FDA market-authorized mobile application delivering validated behavioral therapy and intended for use in conjunction with buprenorphine and standard outpatient treatment for OUD.
3U24AT009769-02S1
PAIN MANAGEMENT COLLABORATORY COORDINATING CENTER (PMC3) New Strategies to Prevent and Treat Opioid Addiction NCCIH Yale University KERNS, ROBERT D; BRANDT, CYNTHIA A. NEW HAVEN, CT 2018
NOFO Title: NIH-DoD-VA Pain Management Collaboratory - Coordinating Center (U24)
NOFO Number: RFA-AT-17-002
Summary:

The Pain Management Collaboratory Coordinating Center (PMC3) will 1) provide national leadership and technical expertise in all aspects of research supporting the design and execution of high-impact demonstration projects that conduct cost-effective, large-scale, pragmatic clinical trials on non- pharmacological approaches for pain management and other comorbid conditions in veteran or military health care systems and 2) make data, tools, best practices, and resources from these and other projects available to facilitate research partnerships in VA and DoD health systems. The aims are to: 1) develop, adapt, and adopt technical policy guidelines and best practices for the effective design and conduct of pragmatic trials; 2) work collaboratively with and provide operational, technical, design, and other support to demonstration project teams to develop, initiate, and implement a research protocol; and 3) disseminate NIH–DoD–VA Pain Management Collaboratory–endorsed policies and best practices and lessons learned within military and veteran health care systems.
1R41DA050364-01
Optimization of Betulinic Acid analogs for T-type calcium channel inhibition for non-addictive relief of chronic pain Cross-Cutting Research Small Business Programs NIDA REGULONIX, LLC KHANNA Tucson, AZ 2019
NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: America’s Startups and Small Businesses Build Technologies to Stop the Opioid Crisis (R43/R44 - Clinical Trial Optional)
NOFO Number: RFA-DA-19-019
Summary:

The increase in prevalence of cancer coupled with an increase in the cancer survival rates due to chemotherapy regimens is transforming cancer pain into a large, unmet medical problem. Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is a common and potentially dose-limiting side effect of many cancer drug treatment regimens and is caused in part by alterations in ion channels; blocking or depleting Cav3.2 channels in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons should thus mediate analgesic effects. This proposal aims to develop and test potent, orally available, and selective Cav3.2 channel antagonists, building on the structure of a medicinal plant product—betulinic acid (BA)—that has been identified to be Cav3.2-selective and antinociceptive in CIPN. Such compounds could reduce the reliance on opioids in cancer patients.
1R01NS120663-01A1
Genetic and Pharmacological Validation of CRMP2 Phosphorylation 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 UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA KHANNA, RAJESH Tucson, AZ 2020
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:

Peripheral nerve injury-induced upregulation of three axonal guidance phosphoproteins correlates with the development of neuropathic pain through an unidentified mechanism: 1) collapsin response mediator protein 2 (CRMP2); 2) the N-type voltage-gated calcium (CaV2.2); 3) the NaV1.7 voltage-gated sodium channel. Injury induced phosphorylated-CRMP2/CaV2.2 and phosphorylated-CRMP2/NaV1.7 upregulation in the sensory pathway may promote abnormal excitatory synaptic transmission in spinal cord that leads to neuropathic pain states. This project will validate CRMP2 phosphorylation as a novel target in neuropathic pain using innovative tools. Examples include a genetic approach (crmp2S522A) in mice as well as a non-opioid pharmacological approach (a novel CRMP2-phsphorylation targeting compound). Demonstrating that inhibition of CRMP2 phosphorylation reverses or prevents neuropathic pain will promote the discovery and validation of a novel therapeutic target (CRMP2-phosphorylation) to facilitate the development of novel pain therapeutics.
1R61NS126026-01A1
Antagonists of CRMP2 Phosphorylation for Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Preclinical and Translational Research in Pain Management Development and Optimization of Non-Addictive Therapies to Treat Pain NINDS UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA KHANNA, RAJESH Tucson, Arizona 2022
NOFO Title: HEAL Initiative: Planning Studies for Initial Analgesic Development [Small Molecules and Biologics] (R61 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
NOFO Number: NS21-029
Summary:

A more thorough understanding of neuropathic pain is critical for developing new target-specific medications. Researchers know that peripheral nerve injury changes various cell processes that affect two ion channels linked with chronic pain. Preliminary studies indicate that molecular changes known as phosphorylation to the collapsin response mediator protein 2 (CRMP2), one of five intracellular phosphoproteins, promotes abnormal excitability in the brain region that contributes to neuropathic pain. This project aims to develop small molecule inhibitors of CRMP2 phosphorylation as potential therapeutics for pain.