Personalizing care for children's long-term headaches after COVID-19
Official title: Pediatric Chronic Headache and COVID-19: Use of Machine Learning and Biobehavioral Analysis to Classify Headache Mechanism and Optimize Treatment Course.
Funded at Boston Children's Hospital · NIH-11093400 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses brain and behavior tests plus machine learning to sort different types of chronic headaches in children and teens so treatments can be better matched.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Boston Children's Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | August 18, 2022 |
| Project end | May 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $539,602 |
| NIH project number | 5R01NS125265-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11093400 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are children and adolescents with chronic or treatment-resistant headaches, particularly those with new or worsening headaches after COVID-19, who can attend study visits.
✕Less likely to help
People with a single short-term headache episode, adults without pediatric-onset headache, or those unable to travel for testing may not receive direct benefit from this work.
What this research studies
You'd join a program that follows children and adolescents with ongoing headaches, including some who developed or worsened headaches after COVID-19. The team collects clinical history, behavior questionnaires, pain-modulation tests, and brain measurements to capture each person's biobehavioral signature. They will apply machine learning to build computer models that classify headache subtypes and flag cases that are likely resistant to standard treatments. Study visits would likely include interviews, noninvasive tests, and appointments at Boston Children's Hospital.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help doctors choose treatments that work better for each child's specific headache type and reduce long-term pain and disability.
How similar studies have gone: Some adult and early pediatric studies have used machine learning to find headache patterns, but combining detailed biobehavioral signatures with ML for pediatric post-COVID headaches is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Boston Children's Hospital
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Holmes, Scott — Boston Children's Hospital
- Study coordinator: Holmes, Scott
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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.