By Torben Haugaard Jensen, AAU Communication and Public Affairs.
Photo: Lars Horn, Baghuset Pressefoto

Millions of people suffer from chronic pain, and the use of pain medicine is increasing. The need for new treatment methods is therefore great.

This is a huge challenge according to Thomas Graven-Nielsen, Professor in the Department of Health Science and Technology and Head of the Center for Neuroplasticity and Pain (CNAP) at Aalborg University.  

Together with a consortium of top researchers, partners from industry and patient representatives, Thomas Graven-Nielsen has received DKK 30 million from the EU Horizon 2020 programme to establish a network of PhD students who will be trained to develop new methods for managing persistent pain without the use of medication.

The consortium consists of world-leading experts in pain neuroscience, cutting-edge MedTech companies, knowledge actors and end-users, with the same ambition and commitment: to train the future generation of pain scientists to address the unmet challenges within chronic pain.  

"By combining laboratory trials, human studies and clinical trials, we hope to develop new treatment methods. The goal is to meet the growing need for better treatments and improve the quality of life for millions of people," says Thomas Graven-Nielsen.

Stimulation of the brain’s processing of pain

The research project brings together leading researchers in pain neuroscience who will make a total of 15 PhD students future experts in persistent pain.

The future experts will help develop a new treatment strategy that aims to influence the brain's processing of pain.

"We will try to redirect the activity in the brain associated with persistent pain, and then alleviate the pain using non-invasive brain stimulation, which is a technique that affects brain activity without surgery and medication," says Thomas Graven-Nielsen.

Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication and Public Affairs.