# Identifying Markers of Chronic Pain Development in Alcoholism

> **NIH NIH K01** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2022 · $183,125

## Abstract

Summary
This is an application for a Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) to support the career
development efforts of Dr. Nasim Maleki, including enhanced training in an integrated cross-disciplinary
program consisting of in-depth experience in alcoholism neuroscience and pathophysiology under the
mentorship of Dr. Marlene Oscar Berman, an expert at the forefront of research on alcohol abuse disorder
(AUD), and a team of leading experts in alcoholism, pain, neuroimaging, and statistical modeling. The proposed
research is an interdisciplinary study that would bridge AUD research with pain research and as such, allows
insights into alcoholism as a risk factor for development of chronic pain disorders, and vice versa. Dr. Maleki
aims to leverage neuroimaging and neuropsychiatric data from a large cohort of abstinent long-term alcoholic
men and women, to develop retroactive insights and predictive models for chronic pain. Aim 1 seeks to
determine whether AUD is associated with damage to the descending pain modulatory network (DPMN)
pathways. Aim 2 is to gather further insights into potential abnormalities in the DPMN associated with AUD by
performing quantitative sensory testing in AUD patients. Finally, Aim 3 will determine whether presence of
depressive or stress symptoms are predictive of chronic pain development in AUD. As chronic pain syndromes
have the propensity to trigger the risk of re-initiation of alcohol abuse in abstinent alcoholics, it is important to:
(a) characterize pain related abnormalities associated with AUD; (b) understand neural links between AUD and
chronic pain; and (c) ultimately identify markers that predict the risk of development of chronic pain in abstinent
alcoholics. The findings should allow early detection of AUD patients at risk for developing chronic pain
conditions, and earlier start of interventional approaches to reduce the risk of consequent alcohol abuse or
relapse.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10385762
- **Project number:** 5K01AA027833-03
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Nasim Maleki
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $183,125
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-05-10 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10385762

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10385762, Identifying Markers of Chronic Pain Development in Alcoholism (5K01AA027833-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10385762. Licensed CC0.

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