The Weiss Award-winning research project by Manuela Schmidt (Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology) addresses the question of how chronic nerve pain develops in humans. In the project PainSTRIKE: Multiomics Insights into Human Pain, the biologist and pharmacologist investigates the molecular mechanisms of chronic pain directly within the human nervous system.
Chronic pain poses a significant burden for many affected individuals, while effective therapies have been limited to date. The project focuses on diabetic peripheral neuropathy, one of the most common forms of chronic nerve pain in people with diabetes. The research team is analysing nerve nodes of the peripheral nervous system, known as dorsal root ganglia, which transmit pain signals from the body to the brain. Using modern multiomics methods, the team is investigating the proteins and molecular signalling pathways involved in the development of chronic pain.
Particular focus is given to gender differences, as well as the influence of opioid painkillers, which are often used to treat severe pain, but which can be associated with significant long-term risks.
"Much of the knowledge from pain research comes from animal studies. These are very important, but their findings can only be applied to humans with limitations. Our goal is to better understand the biological basis of chronic pain directly within the human nervous system", says project leader Manuela Schmidt. The project is being carried out in collaboration with Theodore Price, a pain researcher from the University of Texas at Dallas, USA. The data obtained will be made publicly available and is intended to help identify new approaches to more effective and safer pain therapies in the long term.
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