Grant: CIHR Fellowship

Chronic pain is one of the most underestimated health care problems in the world today, causing a major burden to the patient and society. In Canada, one in five adults experience chronic pain, with associated costs estimated at $40 billion a year and rising. On top of this, Canada is currently facing an opioid crisis, affecting many chronic pain patients who use opioid medications to manage their pain. Despite overwhelming evidence of the prevalence and impact of chronic pain on our society, research for pain is greatly underfunded. This results in a lack of understanding and treatment of the disease, with only a small percentage of patients achieving full recovery. Migraine headache can be especially debilitating and is a significant cause of suffering and disability worldwide. Therefore, technologies and therapeutic strategies that can help better understand migraine and improve the care of patients living with this disorder is necessary. Towards this goal, mind-body therapies are increasingly being used for chronic pain management and neuroimaging has the capacity to evaluate the brain circuitry underlying pain and its relief. My research combines novel mind-body therapies of mindfulness meditation and neuromodulation and applies neuroimaging to investigate mind-body mechanisms and outcomes for migraine. The project may shed important insight into the brain mechanisms associated with migraine and successful mind-body treatment outcome, as well as offer a novel integrated therapeutic strategy for a disorder that is difficult to treat and mange.