Today the European
Federation of Chapters of the International Association for the Study
of Pain (EFIC) and the pharmaceutical company Grunenthal GmbH
award five young European scientists with grants to support
innovative, exploratory research projects on clinical and human
experimental pain research.
Overall 29 young researchers from eight countries across Europe applied
for funds totaling € 100,000. The EFIC Research Committee, comprising
internationally known pain specialists, has chosen the winners. Unlike
typical research grants which are intended to support well established
research groups with many years of experience behind them, the
EFIC-Grunenthal Grants are intended for young investigators just beginning
their research career. Focus is on novel ideas that have the potential for
major advances in the understanding of pain mechanisms and the
treatment of patients suffering from chronic pain, even if there is a risk of
failure.
The winners of this year's EFIC-Grunenthal Grants, in the amount of
€ 20,000 per project, are:
Thomas Graven-Nielsen Ph.D., Aalborg University (DK): Referred pain,
is a classical characteristic in musculoskeletal pain. His study will address
factors potentially explaining why some subjects are predisposed to
develop referred pain in contrast to others who are not.
Dieuwke Veldhuijzen Ph.D., University of Utrecht (NL). With functional
magnetic resonance imaging she will investigate the role of autonomic
nervous system dysfunction in fibromyalgia - a syndrome characterized by
chronic widespread pain, tenderness to light touch, and a variety of other
symptoms.
Valéry Legrain Ph.D., Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels (B).
The aim of this project is to study the organization of the attentional
processes that modulate pain in the human brain, by combining behavioral
and neurophysiological methods. The results may provide new information
allowing the development and adaptation of psychotherapeutic techniques
for patients to cope better with pain.
Christian Netzer M.D., Cologne University (DE): His work is in the field of
migraine research. He asks whether the likelihood of suffering from
migraine headaches may be related to genetically determined variability in
a specific neuropeptide signalling pathway of the central nervous system.
Markus Ploner M.D., Technical University Munich (DE): He will explore
physiological correlates of the involuntary attentional demands of pain,
which may degrade a person´s ability to perceive and to make rational
decisions during pain. Increases in the attentional demands of pain may
also be involved in the development of chronic pain syndromes.
"Young investigators who won EFIC-Grunenthal Grants in 2007 will be
carrying out research on a variety of intriguing questions", comments Prof.
Marshall Devor, Ph.D., Chairman of the EFIC Research Committee and
Professor at the Institute of Life Sciences and Centre for Research on Pain
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "For example, fibromyalgia seriously
degrades the quality of life of many patients. Two of these projects are
looking into functional and psychological aspects that may underlie this and
related chronic pain syndromes."
"EFIC and Grunenthal are now in the fourth year of the fruitful tradition of
encouraging young European pain scientists in their ambitious work to help
understand chronic pain and to provide relief to patients suffering from
chronic pain. Both are highly committed to bringing to public awareness the
realization that pain is a disease in its own right", comments Prof. Serdar
Erdine, M.D., EFIC President and Director, Department of Algology, Faculty
of Medicine at Istanbul University.
"Pain relief is more than just taking pain killers. Many patients suffering from
pain have problems with carrying out their daily activities like taking care of
their children, work and hobbies. Research such as this will help us to
understand the mechanism of action behind pain symptoms, and hopefully
to significantly improve the quality of life of pain patients", said Wolfgang
Becker, Member of the Executive Board of Grunenthal GmbH". Moreover,
improved treatment approaches will lower the overall disease related costs
in the EU healthcare systems".
The application hotline for the next EFIC-Grunenthal Grant 2008 is open.
More information is available at e-g-g.
About EFIC
The European Federation of IASP Chapters (EFIC) is a multidisciplinary
professional organization in the field of Pain Science and Medicine, made
up of the 30 European chapters of IASP (the International Association for
the Study of Pain). Established in 1993 by Prof. Ulf Lindblom, EFIC's 30
constituent chapters represent 33 countries and close to 18,000 scientists,
physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, psychologists and other healthcare
professionals across Europe, who study pain and treat patients in pain.
efic
About Grunenthal
Grunenthal is an expert in pain therapy and gynaecology and a pioneer in
intelligent, user-friendly drug delivery technologies. Founded in 1946, the
company employs 1,900 people in Germany and 4,800 worldwide. In 2006 ,
Grunenthal achieved revenues of 813 million Euro.
grunenthal