# University of Michigan BACPAC Mechanistic Research Center

> **NIH NIH U19** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2021 · $98,600

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
Chronic low back pain (cLBP) is highly prevalent, expensive and is associated with long term functional
impairment, disability and poor quality of life. Several pharmacologic (e.g. duloxetine and gabapentin) and
non-pharmacologic treatments such as physical therapy, acupressure and mindfulness-based interventions
(MBIs) have shown efficacy in cLBP. Mindfulness-Based Stress-Reduction (MBSR) is an example of an
increasingly widely used non-pharmacological intervention for pain reduction, and is now recommended in
many treatment guidelines for cLBP. However, despite studies displaying effectiveness in cLBP, only a subset
of individuals responds to each treatment modality. There is an urgent need for a greater understanding of
pain mechanisms and predictors of response to different therapies with a goal of matching patients based on
phenotypes to therapies to which they are most likely to respond. The parent award, a HEAL Initiative award
(U19 AR076734), which uses a precision medicine approach to identify what treatments are likely to work in
different patient endotypes. The proposed supplement will allow the me, a clinical rheumatologist, to learn
these skills through assessment of MBSR on patient-reported pain interference in cLBP. I will also be able to
use both clinically available data (such as patient-reported outcomes) as well as state-of-art phenotyping
methods such as functional MRI (fMRI) and Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST), to mechanistically explore the
proposed neurobiological effects of MBSR. I will subsequently be able to translate this knowledge in how to
administer MBSR as well as evaluating pain mechanisms in individuals with autoimmune rheumatologic
diseases, and evaluate the patient phenotypes most responsive to different therapies.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10415416
- **Project number:** 3U19AR076734-01S3
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Daniel J Clauw
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $98,600
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10415416

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10415416, University of Michigan BACPAC Mechanistic Research Center (3U19AR076734-01S3). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10415416. Licensed CC0.

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