# Training in Mechanisms and Clinical Presentation of Pain

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2021 · $239,181

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The overarching goal of this training program is to train the next generation of pain researchers. We will continue
to train both pre- (two per year) and post-doctoral (two per year) fellows in the fundamental principles of pain, as
nociceptive signals arise and are modulated throughout the body and ultimately integrated in the brain to produce
the sensory and emotional experience. We will continue to build on the training program developed through the
first funding period of this grant around a combination of more formal coursework and less formal training
experiences designed to provide not only a solid background in pain mechanisms and management, and a
greater appreciation of the burden of pain, but in a variety of skills critical for career development including the
use of cutting edge methodology, networking, presentations to both lay and expert audiences, and writing. We
are committed to an integrated approach to the study of pain which is based on our belief that major
breakthroughs in this field can only be achieved through multidisciplinary approaches. This is most clearly
manifest in practice through interactions between [1] laboratories (horizontal integration) and [2] researchers and
clinicians (vertical integration). Accordingly, horizontal and vertical integration are essential components of this
training program, which consists of three core elements:
1) Research - Multidisciplinary research projects are not only encouraged, but expected, as is exposure to clinical
management of pain/pain-related problems. Horizontal and vertical integration will be achieve both through the
choice of project, shaped by a primary mentor with input from the executive committee, and through the formation
of multidisciplinary mentoring committees which will include at least one clinical faculty member among a three
to four-member committee.
2) Theory - Trainees participate in four required for-credit courses: Mechanisms and Clinical Presentation of
Pain, Pain Journal Club, bi-weekly Current Research on Pain presentations, and Pain Models – Rationale,
Testing and Interpretation, as well as the monthly Pain Seminar Series, where trainees interact with prominent
pain researchers. These courses serve as a primary venue to address issues of scientific rigor and responsibility
as well as reinforce issues associated with the responsible conduct of research. Post-doctoral trainees will obtain
additional training through their participation in the patient/family education program developed by the chronic
pain clinic and offered every six weeks as an educational resource for pain patients and families.
3) Practice - Trainees will be exposed to the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain patients
through two (and for post-docs three) primary venues: 1) The last third of the course Mechanisms of Clinical
Presentation of Pain is directed at assessment diagnosis and treatment of specific subpopulations/aspects of
pain patients (...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10208974
- **Project number:** 5T32NS073548-09
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** MICHAEL S GOLD
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $239,181
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2012-07-01 → 2023-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10208974

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10208974, Training in Mechanisms and Clinical Presentation of Pain (5T32NS073548-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10208974. Licensed CC0.

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