# Pain and Neurodegenerative Undergraduate Research Experiences: Interacting with community partners to build specialized and enhanced neurologic disease programs for undergraduates.

> **NIH NIH R25** · DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $107,999

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 In the last decade, due to Congressional budget cuts, NIH funding for biomedical research has plummeted
despite a growing public health need. Beyond the obvious effect of this reduction on the productivity of
research labs, this funding climate likely dissuades undergraduate students from pursuing careers in
biomedical research. This effect will be particularly deleterious to the study and understanding of chronic
neurologic disease, an area of growing concern. We aim to counteract this possibility by supporting specialized
summer undergraduate research experiences in pain and neurodegenerative disease. The rationale for this
proposal is that by strengthening undergraduate research programs in neurologic disease, we can begin to
build a pipeline of skilled researchers to respond to increasing rates of neurodegenerative diseases as our
population ages. This proposal aims to develop and continue to implement two synergistic biomedical research
programs. These new programs, the Pain Undergraduate Research Experience (PURE) and
Neurodegenerative Undergraduate Research Experience (NURE), are cross-disciplinary and community-
engaged biomedical summer undergraduate research programs. The objective of the PURE and NURE
summer program is to increase student understanding of and exposure to the underlying science of pain and
neurodegeneration, and importantly, to offer a more complete and authentic experience, by bridging basic
science research with opportunities for students to interact on- and off-site with clinical researchers. 12 (six per
program) rising sophomores and above will be recruited each summer for a 10-week long PURE or NURE
session. We anticipate recruiting students from a variety of undergraduate majors including biology, chemistry,
biochemistry, pre-physical therapy, pre-occupational therapy, pre-pharmacy, neuroscience, physics, computer
science, and biomedical engineering. [We aim to include a diverse population of students by recruiting
nationally from large research universities, historically black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving
institutions, and regionally from low research and primarily undergraduate institutions.]

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10073552
- **Project number:** 5R25NS100118-04
- **Recipient organization:** DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** MICHAEL CASCIO
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $107,999
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-01-01 → 2022-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10073552

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10073552, Pain and Neurodegenerative Undergraduate Research Experiences: Interacting with community partners to build specialized and enhanced neurologic disease programs for undergraduates. (5R25NS100118-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10073552. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*