Funded Projects

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a frequent cause of disability and chronic pain. Treatment often relies on analgesics like opioids to manage OA pain, with all the associated risks; other approaches to treat OA are often invasive and inaccessible to patients. Therefore, novel analgesic strategies are needed to reduce the high burden of knee OA-induced pain. This project aims to study in detail and target the sensory neurons that drive OA pain to assist in the development of more effective pain therapeutics.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease characterized by episodes of joint inflammation and pain. There are currently no safe and effective treatments that achieve long-term remission of the condition or the associated pain. Many patients use opioid medications to manage the pain and are at increased risk of developing opioid use disorder; therefore, additional treatment options are needed. In rheumatoid arthritis, pain-triggering sensory neurons interact with immune cells in the joints. This project aims to dissect the neuroimmune crosstalk underlying pain and inflammation in arthritic joints and uncover novel therapeutic avenues for this painful condition.

Evidence-based behavioral treatments for pain are among the most effective and safe approaches, but they are underused, especially among patients taking opioids long-term. Despite known risks to long-term opioid therapy (including opioid use disorder and overdoses), patients may be reluctant to try something different to manage their pain. This project brings together two evidence-based behavior change interventions—motivational interviewing and contingency management—into an online format. The research will test whether web-based tools or mobile apps influence a patient’s willingness to consider using non-medication treatments for pain. The research will assess feasibility, acceptability to patients and providers, and broad-scale implementation.

Endometriosis is a gynecologic disorder characterized by severe pelvic pain, affecting 10% of reproductive aged women and adolescents worldwide. These individuals are at an increased risk for chronic opioid use, dependence, and overdose. Adolescents and young adults in particular are understudied in endometriosis research. This project will conduct a longitudinal study of adolescent endometriosis. The research will identify novel biomarkers and biological pathways involved in the transition of acute to chronic pain. The research aims to improve non-surgical endometriosis diagnosis, risk, and treatment. 

This project provides protected time for training and research activities that are required for an independent scientific career in the development, testing, and implementation of cutting-edge digital therapies and tools (such as smartphone apps and other web-based resources) that can promote health equity in treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). The research will adapt and test digital overdose prevention and recovery support interventions for Black Americans with co-occurring OUD and mental illness. 

Current clinical screening measures for opioid misuse are underused and susceptible to bias. This project will develop Beacon-OUD, a digital opioid misuse assessment. The tool generates an automated, standardized score, preventing potential judgements related to patient’s status and circumstances, limiting stigma. The research will further advance Beacon-OUD into a commercial product for use both as a stand-alone tool and as an electronic health record-integrated solution to encourage objective opioid misuse screening in large health care systems. 

Emergency departments (EDs) are key settings for identifying and treating opioid use disorder (OUD), but EDs are underused for this purpose. This project aims to develop a data system that automates and integrates electronic health record and administrative data from EDs into the Clinical Emergency Department Registry, partnering with the American College of Emergency Physicians. The research will assess the digital readiness of ED systems before developing and deploying the enhanced ED OUD data infrastructure. This research aims to guide near-real time hospital quality improvement initiatives, toward development of a web-based, near-real time dashboard that can be used in EDs across the country.

Although medications for opioid use disorder are effective and available, providers currently lack methods to monitor patients and thus inform improved dosing. This project will develop Strength Band Platform, an innovative artificial intelligence-based digital platform. The wearable device will collect patient physiological characteristics to detect relapse and withdrawal during treatment with medications for opioid use disorder in real-world settings. 

Managing the risks and benefits of opioid medications can be difficult. Although prescription opioids alleviate pain for some patients, serious adverse effects include opioid use disorder. There is a critical, unmet need for new technologies that significantly minimize the opioid doses needed for effective relief from moderate to severe pain. This project will develop a novel combination treatment containing a small amount of morphine along with pramipexole, a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Parkinson’s disease and restless legs syndrome that reduces the reward-seeking behavior associated with opioids. The research will conduct safety studies to enable testing in human research participants.