RCMI Clinical Research Project, 2024–2029 “Neural and Immune Correlates of Painful Chemotherapy Chemotherapy-Induced Neuropathy, Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of a Motor Cortex Non Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Intervention”

Research Areas

  • Brain activity during pain
  • Non-invasive brain stimulation
  • Anxiety, stress and pain
  • Neuropathic Pain

Scientific Achievements

  • Developed method to make diagnosis of small fiber neuropathy more accessible and less invasive
  • Developed lead biomarkers for efficacy of pain alleviation in patients with neuropathic pain using functional MRI (PhD work)
  • Demonstrated more detailed evidence for the effect of minoritization on psychological and pain sensory measures

Funding

  • RCMI Funding: U54MD013376, NIH/NIMHD: Research Project 3: “Neural and Immune Correlates of Painful Chemotherapy-Induced Neuropathy, Feasibility and Preliminary Efficacy of a Motor Cortex Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation Intervention”
  • Other funding obtained with RCMI support: L60NS145314, NIH/NINDS, Loan Repayment Program Grant: “Racially Unbiased Diagnostics and Interventions for Complications Related to Neuropathy and Neuropathic Pain”; Morgan State University I-GAP grants for Technique for diagnosing large and small fiber neuropathy (2023), Clinically Relevant Animal Model for Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (2024), Pulse Oximetry (2025).

Scientific Advance

Secondary analysis: heat and self-report pain sensitivity associate with biological sex and racialized sociocultural group but may not be mediated by anxiety or pain catastrophizing
Published in Pain Reports, Volume 9(1), 2024, PMCID: PMC10811695
Previous studies have demonstrated associations between racialized group on pain sensitivity and tolerance. We analyzed the association of sex and racialized group on heat and mechanical pain sensitivity. Using sensory testing for mechanical and heat pain and the pain sensitivity questionnaire (PSQ) we evaluated pain sensitivity in 134 healthy participants self-identifying as white, black or Asian. Racialized minority status was associated with greater heat pain sensitivity (F=7.63; p=0.0007) and PSQ scores (F=15.4; p=9.8×10−7) but not associated with mechanical pain (F=1.50; p=0.23). Consistent with previous research, sensitivity to painful heat was associated with racialized minority status and female sex. By contrast, there was no significant effect of racialized minority status or female sex on mechanical pain.
NIH/NIMHD: U54MD013376; NIH/NIGMS: RL5GM118972
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