Pain relief research for food animals (models to test analgesics)
Official title: Development and validation of pain models in food animals
Funded at Kansas State University · NIH-11641868 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers are developing reliable ways to test pain relief drugs for pigs, calves, and goats to help farmers keep animals comfortable.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Kansas State University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Manhattan, United States) |
| Project start | September 15, 2024 |
| Project end | August 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $89,908 |
| NIH project number | 3U18FD008474-03S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11641868 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are food-producing farm animals (pigs, goats, calves) used in veterinary research settings or on-farm partners contributing to analgesic testing.
✕Less likely to help
Animals not enrolled in pain model studies or not undergoing analgesic testing may not benefit directly.
What this research studies
This project aims to create and validate pain models in food animals to support the approval of safe analgesics. Researchers will study how animals respond to painful procedures and how different measurements (behavioral signs and biological markers) reflect pain and relief. The work also looks at how drug levels in animals relate to pain relief, hoping to improve dosing guidelines. By building better models, the team hopes to speed up the availability of approved pain medicines for farm animals while protecting consumer safety.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could lead to more widely approved pain-relief drugs for livestock, improving welfare on farms and potentially consumer confidence.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work shows that combining behavioral and biomarker data can improve pain assessment in animals, but results vary across species and procedures.
Where this research is happening
-
Kansas State University
Manhattan, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Apley, Michael Douglas — Kansas State University
- Study coordinator: Apley, Michael Douglas
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.