Understanding spinal cord circuits behind chronic pain in adults
Official title: Translaminar interneurons in the spinal cord dorsal horn
Funded at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic · NIH-11356894 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A study in adults with pain will look at how specific spinal neurons may change from acute to chronic pain and how nerve injury affects their signaling.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R21 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Lebanon, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2026 |
| Project end | June 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $426,250 |
| NIH project number | 1R21NS149418-01 |
| Project ID | NIH-11356894 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with pain or at risk of chronic pain, including those with peripheral nerve injury, and healthy adult volunteers for comparative analyses.
✕Less likely to help
Participants without pain or interest in spinal-circuit studies may not benefit directly.
What this research studies
Researchers will study translaminar excitatory interneurons in the spinal cord dorsal horn of adult subjects and animal models to understand how nerve injury shifts the balance of signals that cause chronic pain. They will use voltage imaging, electrophysiology, and histology to examine how these neurons contribute to allodynia and the persistence of pain after injury. The work aims to map how peripheral nerve damage alters inhibitory and excitatory signals in these hub neurons to reveal targets for better pain control.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify new targets to prevent or reduce chronic pain by normalizing spinal circuit activity.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work suggests spinal circuits play a key role in pain, but this project explores a specific neuron class with novel markers and methods.
Where this research is happening
-
Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic
Lebanon, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Skorput, Alexander — Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic
- Study coordinator: Skorput, Alexander
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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.