DURHAM, N.C. -- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded Duke Anesthesiology a five-year, $8,566,593 million Center of Excellence award that is supported via the NIH’s Program Project Grant (PPG) mechanism. This is of substantial significance to the department and university because it marks the funding of a new national center and represents the first PPG to the department in 40 years.

The designation as a Center of Excellence within Duke Anesthesiology’s Center for Translational Pain Medicine (CTPM) by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) brings this department both national and international recognition; there are only 1-3 Centers of Excellence funded as PPGs by NCCIH in the country. The new center represents a new and unique resource to investigators world-wide who have interest in translational pain research; it represents a nidus that not only advances Duke Anesthesiology’s mission in translational pain research, but brings it increased visibility in the pain field, which will further expand international collaboration and increase its value and recognition as a leader in translational pain medicine.

This award and designation is the culmination of a nearly three-year effort by the CTPM, initiated by the center’s co-directors, including Dr. William Maixner, who worked closely to develop the proposal with the center’s members and affiliates (*see complete list of names below).

The title of the PPG is “Resolution of Neuroinflammation and Persistent Pain by Complementary Approaches.” The overarching aims of the PPG is to identify new and novel complimentary approaches to the treatment of pain conditions. The PPG will support the intellectual development of the Center of Excellence and the infrastructure for three scientific projects and three support cores. These units will further bring together Duke Anesthesiology’s basic science and clinical groups to advance translational pain research.

*P01 collaborators include: William Maixner, Shad Smith, Andrey Bortsov, Andrea Nackley, Sven-Eric Jordt, Niccolo Terrando, Luis Ulloa (Anesthesiology), Wolfgang Liedtke and Yong Chen (Anesthesiology and Neurology), Fan Wang (Neurobiology), and Staci Bilbo (Psychology and Neuroscience).