Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center

 

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Tackling society’s biggest challenges by enabling discoveries to shape the future. Access to Precision Health for All Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center Precision Aging Network Pilot Study Center for Advanced Technologies in Health Personalized Defense

 

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Grand Challenges

Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center

UAHS 2.3
PRECISION HEALTH CARE FOR ALL
Comprehensive Pain and Addiction Center

OVERVIEW

To lead the state in addressing the current opioid epidemic, we will create a Comprehensive Center for Chronic Pain and Addiction that is the nucleus for treatment, research, trials, drug discovery, technology, education and legislation to predict, prevent and contain addiction crises. The university will conduct new research on comprehensive behavioral therapies as addiction treatment, develop early screeners for individuals at risk and develop novel non-addictive pain medications and medications to help those who suffer from addiction.

GOALS

Become a leader in drug discovery, detection, treatment and prevention for chronic pain and addiction. This Center addresses the opioid-epidemic, future addiction crisis, the aging population that is stricken with chronic pain, and the need to develop and enrich our chronic pain and addiction clinical research. Four sub-initiatives include:

  • Lead in an alternative pain management drug discovery.
  • Explore new treatment and rehabilitation approaches.
  • Work with prescribing providers of controlled substances to prevent substance use disorder and reduce the morbidity and mortality
  • Build preventative approaches and tools to screen at-risk individuals.

STATUS: LAUNCHED

  • Detailed plans for this initiative have been prepared, and a comprehensive review of the initiative has been completed by key administrators and support personnel.
  • Preliminary efforts to identify collaborators for the team are underway.
  • One re-formulated compound has been submitted for an IRB and IND to be tested with chronic pain patients.
  • Thirty active grants are in progress, including grants to NIH, DOD, NSF and private foundations.
  • Work is underway to set up a Drug Discovery Lab.
  • We’ve started the search process for hiring physicians for chronic pain and addiction.

Owner

Todd Vanderah, PhD Department Head and Professor, Pharmacology
Todd Vanderah, PhD
Department Head and Professor, Pharmacology
Co-Director, MD/PhD Dual Degree Program