# University of Utah Program to Provide Pain Research Knowledge (UP3RK)

> **NIH NIH T90** · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · 2024 · $385,409

## Abstract

To effectively address the nation's biomedical, behavioral, and clinical pain research needs, it is imperative to
prepare an interdisciplinary, diverse pool of well-trained, clinical pain research scientists. To accomplish this
charge, the University of Utah Program to Provide Pain Research Knowledge (UP3RK) mission is to
impart the science knowledge, skills, and core competencies needed by post-graduate, interdisciplinary
Scholars to address the nation’s scientific needs in clinical pain research. UP3RK is situated at the University
of Utah (UU), a rich environment to train interdisciplinary Scholars on clinical pain research in diverse settings.
UP3RK training focuses on our institutional strengths of: 1) nonpharmacologic pain treatment; 2) effective
interventions for pain and co-morbidities, particularly substance use disorders; 3) implementation science, and
4) research with diverse and underserved populations. Annually, UP3RK supports five Scholars—within a two-
year training duration—through dedicated UP3RK Mentors within an innovative, multi-level mentor model
(Mentor Matrix Model) that has proven extremely successful in developing independently-funded investigators
who remain in academic research careers. The UP3RK trains our Scholars in: 1) in our four focus areas, 2)
career development and programmatic skills, and 3) interdisciplinary research skills. UP3RK’s emphasis on
communication, grant writing, and team science at all levels equip our Scholars with key knowledge, skills, and
abilities to advance innovations to improve health for persons with chronic pain and enable a transdisciplinary
approach to team science. To accomplish our mission, we leverage new and existing local training curricula
and national trainings available from the HEAL PAIN Cohort Program. We evaluate UP3RK training activities
through a dedicated evaluation process. UP3RK program objectives are: Objective 1: Recruit and support a
diverse and interdisciplinary group of clinical pain research Scholars with particular emphasis to attract
scholars underrepresented in medicine and clinical research, and those with diverse career paths and clinical
backgrounds. Objective 2: Provide a state-of-the-art training environment and curriculum to develop the next
generation of clinical pain researchers with emphasis on the UP3RK focus areas; nonpharmacological pain
treatments; effective interventions for pain and co-morbidities, particularly SUDs; implementation science; and
research within vulnerable, diverse, and underserved populations. Objective 3: Provide Scholars with
opportunities to improve the impact of their clinical pain research careers and achieve independent research
support within 5 years of completing the UP3RK program by developing career development and
programmatic skills (e.g., technical, operational, professionalism, communication skills) and interdisciplinary
research skills (e.g., working with an interdisciplinary research team). The research environment ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10936304
- **Project number:** 1T90DA062773-01
- **Recipient organization:** UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
- **Principal Investigator:** Julie M Fritz
- **Activity code:** T90 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $385,409
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-15 → 2029-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10936304

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10936304, University of Utah Program to Provide Pain Research Knowledge (UP3RK) (1T90DA062773-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10936304. Licensed CC0.

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