Grant: Project Grant

Pain is the primary reason individuals seek healthcare, the leading utilization of health care resources, and the most important source of disability among working adults in both Canada and the United States. Approximately 25% of the Canadian population experiences chronic pain and if untreated, chronic pain can lead to insomnia, anhedonia, depression, and even suicide. Unfortunately, chronic pain conditions largely remain poorly understood. Evidence shows that chronic pain, especially in its most severe forms, frequently coexists with other forms of chronic pain and comorbid conditions. These conditions are often referred to as chronic overlapping pain conditions (COPCs), which are characterized by pain reported on numerous body sites. Although COPCs affect about 40% of pain patients, they remain difficult to study due to their diverse clinical manifestations and different etiology. A detailed taxonomy accounting for the heterogeneity of chronic pain experienced over multiple body sites is currently lacking. The innovation of this proposal lies in its approach to classifying and understanding Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions (COPCs) through the application of advanced computational tools to large-scale biobank data. Identifying homogeneous clinical subtypes of COPCs could facilitate the classification of COPCs, identify their pathogenesis, and ultimately improve pain management. The following three aims are proposed. Specific Aim 1: Characterize S1-S4 subtypes using a multimodal approach to determine pain mechanisms for each subtype. Specific Aim 2: Validate the S1-S4 subtypes in cohorts of pain patients outside the UKBiobank. Specific Aim 3: Identify the pathogenic mechanisms distinguishing S1-S4 subtypes using genetic in the UKBiobank.