# Training in Mechanisms and Clinical Presentation of Pain

> **NIH NIH T32** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2024 · $275,806

## 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 two funding periods 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 and rigorous and statistically sound methodology, literacy in
quantitative approaches to pain research, networking, and oral and written communication. 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 achieved 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, proper use of
statistics in experimental design and analysis, quantitative literacy, as well as reinforce issues associated with
the responsible conduct of research. 3) Practice - Trainees will be exposed to the assessment, diagnosis and
treatment of chronic pain patients through three primary venues: 1) the Mechanisms of Clinical Presentation of
Pain course includes a series of lectures directed at assessment diagnosis and treatment of specific
subpopulations/aspects of pain patients (visceral, headache, geriatric, etc); 2) One-on-one interactions with a
clinician as a member of the training committee, that is often associated wit...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10878728
- **Project number:** 5T32NS073548-12
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** MICHAEL S GOLD
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $275,806
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2012-07-01 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10878728

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10878728, Training in Mechanisms and Clinical Presentation of Pain (5T32NS073548-12). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10878728. Licensed CC0.

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