Contests / awards

Chronic pain is a major health problem that is typically associated with mental illnesses such as depression or anxiety and is still difficult to treat despite enormous efforts by the healthcare system. The European Research Council (ERC) is now funding the project “A Mechanism-based Approach to the Prevention of Chronic Pain and its Comorbid Mental Disorders” (MECHPAIN) led by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Dr. h.c. Herta Flor, Senior Professor at the Institute of Neuropsychology and Clinical Psychology at the Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH) in Mannheim. The funded project envisages a shift from a symptomatic focus on chronic pain and predefined diagnostic categories to a mechanistic analysis and treatment of psychobiological factors. “This transdiagnostic approach takes a new look at the transition to chronic pain and the associated mental illnesses,” says Herta Flor, who is receiving the highly endowed ERC Advanced Grant for the second time in her research career. The award for the MECHPAIN project is associated with funding of around 2.4 million euros over a period of five years.

Transdiagnostic mechanisms

In current treatment practice, three diagnostic subtypes of pain are generally identified: primary musculoskeletal pain, neuropathic pain and primary headache. To date, these have mostly been analyzed and treated in isolation. The funded project aims to identify transdiagnostic mechanisms of chronic pain development in the three main diagnostic subtypes of pain using advanced machine learning algorithms, among other things, and then to investigate different treatment options on a modular basis. “Our research project focuses in particular on the mechanisms that play a role in the transition from acute to chronic disease. Through the personalized and modular use of treatments based on psychobiological factors, we hope to achieve a decisive improvement in the prevention of chronic pain,” says Herta Flor. Digital interventions, such as virtual reality, will also be used.

Most prestigious funding in Europe

The European Research Council (ERC) rates the project as a potential “game changer” in the treatment of pain. The ERC funds a total of 255 outstanding research leaders in Europe who receive ERC Advanced Grants. The funding is amongst the EU’s most prestigious and competitive, providing leading senior researchers with the opportunity to pursue ambitious, curiosity-driven projects that could lead to major scientific breakthroughs. The new grants, worth in total nearly 652 million Euro, are part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme.
Herta Flor is deputy spokesperson of the SFB 1158 “From nociception to chronic pain: structure-function characteristics of neural pathways and their reorganization”. The Collaborative Research Center investigates how acute pain turns into chronic pain, which molecular and cellular mechanisms are behind this and how these findings can be used for therapies.