Funding: New award for London Pain Consortium
12 January 2008
The Consortium - which was set up in June 2002 by a grant from the Trust - aims to develop a better understanding of the biological processes that underlie chronic pain, and to translate that knowledge into better treatments for sufferers. With the new grant, the researchers will use techniques spanning neuroscience, molecular biology, bioinformatics and genetics to deepen their knowledge of the causes of pain and possible targets for interventions. Their research will include genome-wide association studies (in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute) to identify the genes that control the ‘volume’ on pain - and explore how genetic variation between individuals affects the evolution of chronic pain and individual sensitivity to painkillers.
The University of Oxford’s Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain announced that it was joining the Consortium in December. Its world-class imaging laboratory will look for subtle changes in human brain activity related to pain perception. The £5m Strategic Award from the Trust will be complemented by over £1m from the institutions involved in the Consortium.
Image: Pain and sensory touch fibres; Simon Beggs, Wellcome Images