NIAMS Boosts Support for Pain Research

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In a 2022 director's letter, I announced that NIAMS and several other NIH institutes had been selected by Congress to receive funding that would enhance opportunities for advancing pain science. This is an important topic for NIAMS, particularly considering that many diseases and conditions that fall within our portfolio can cause acute and chronic pain - which can be highly debilitating and difficult to manage. While those grappling with pain have seen some relief thanks to progress in the area, we still need to better understand the mechanisms of pain, find effective and nonaddictive options for treatment, and improve health equity for those disproportionately affected by these conditions.

NIAMS Pain Research and Training Supplements

To that end, NIAMS recently announced 31 awards, totaling more than $5 million, that provide supplemental funding for pain research and training to existing NIAMS projects. Using cutting-edge and novel technologies, these projects will help to accelerate research into the underlying mechanisms of pain in rheumatic, skin, and musculoskeletal diseases. By enhancing our understanding of what causes pain and how it is experienced in various diseases - including osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and lupus - these projects will help lay the groundwork for developing effective, targeted therapies to reduce pain and improve life for the millions of people with such conditions.

NIAMS' Work with the NIH HEAL Initiative

Along with these new awards, NIAMS continues to work closely with the National Institutes of Health Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative, or NIH HEAL Initiative®. In coordination with the NIH HEAL Initiative and other NIH institutes and centers, we recently released a notice of intent to publish, the HEAL KIDS (Knowledge, Innovation, and Discovery Studies): Chronic Pain Program to advance our understanding of chronic pain in children and adolescents. This new program will complement a related one on acute pain trials in children released in 2023. The HEAL KIDS Chronic Pain program will support interdisciplinary team science research to accelerate the development of age-appropriate, patient- and family-centered prevention and therapeutic approaches.

As part of our ongoing efforts around pain, NIAMS has played a leading role in the HEAL-supported Back Pain Consortium Research (BACPAC) Program. Last summer, the consortium published a series of research papersdiscussing ongoing back pain research and describing new tools and interventions to measure and treat back pain - including the development of sensors and virtual reality headsets, which are now in clinical testing. Relatedly, NIAMS manages the HEAL-supported Restoring Joint Health and Function to Reduce Pain (RE-JOIN) Consortium, which seeks to expand our understanding of pain signaling in joints to help reduce pain, limit joint deterioration, and restore healthy joints.

Keep an Eye Out for Research News!

As these projects advance, we will continue to share relevant and timely research advances so as to facilitate bench-to-bedside progress. Please stay tuned for future updates on NIAMS pain research and funding opportunities.

Lindsey A. Criswell, M.D., M.P.H., D.Sc.
Director, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases