The $2.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Nursing Research is the School's first P30 grant, a prestigious NIH category for establishing a core center for interdisciplinary studies. Dorsey said the grant is a "huge" step in such research because it is designed to provide infrastructure and support to develop and grow key core resources that center scientists can use to advance their work. A genetics core within the center, for example, will enable researchers to use "next generation" genomic analysis to reveal previously unknown causes underlying chronic pain.

Eventually information generated on pain genes will lead to new drugs, said Dorsey, a step toward personalized medicine in which groupings of patients with similar genetics may be treated with drugs targeting pain specific to their genes. "The train has already left the station. In 10 to 20 years we hope to be practicing personalized medicine," she said.

SOURCE University of Maryland School of Nursing