As a good start in 2020 the European commission published a dedicated issue on pain – “Why do people develop chronic pain” in the “Horizon, the EU research & Innovation magazine“.
Mood disorders and the discovery of a pain signalling organ in the skin could explain why chronic pain occurs – and how to treat it.
The article contains information on two Projects supported by the European Commission: „DoloRisk Understanding risk factors and determinants for neuropathic pain„ and „Cordis: Decomposition of pain into celltypes”. Prof. Bennett is the lead coordinator of the DOLORisk project, a study across nine countries investigating the different factors that influence a person’s risk of chronic neuropathic pain. The DOLORisk project has been recruiting patients suffering (or at risk of suffering) from neuropathic pain at an unprecedented scale. By developing algorithms for patient stratification and risk prediction, the consortium could ultimately enable better treatment selection.
‘Chronic pain is very disabling – it affects every aspect of your life.‘
Prof. David Bennett, University of Oxford, UK
Prof. Ernfors is leading the PainCells project, which is shining a light on the mysterious processes that transmit pain. The project will first identify and classify sensory neuron types by single-cell RNA seq in rodent and non-human primate. This work will for the first time reveal the full complexity of different cell types engaged in particular types of pain and unravel by activity-based mouse genetics the role of that these play in pain disorders. Thus, PainCells will reveal system-wide principles of coding pain in the nervous system.
Please read the full article in the Horizon 2020 online Magazine. For further Information on the projects, please visit the official website of DOLORisk and PainCells.