Recurrent blinding headaches. Lower back pain that makes it hard to walk. Aches that persist decades after an injury heals. Eye pain and light sensitivity from looking at a computer screen.
Pain is a complex sensory (physical) and emotional (mental) experience that signals to the body something is wrong. Chronic pain, or pain lasting more than three months, affects up to 25% of U.S. adults and is one of the most common reasons people seek medical care.
Researching what causes pain and how to treat it is essential to providing appropriate, effective care. C3P connects physicians, nurses and surgeons with researchers, forming teams of experts at the forefront of clinical care and scientific achievement.
Patient Care
Finding the right plan of care for a person with complex pain can make the difference between suffering and recovery. Our multidisciplinary research on pain, coupled with advances in technology, yields new options for patients and improved recovery time and outcomes.
C3P members are at the forefront of pain treatment and medicine, developing new treatments and techniques and adopting advanced research principles to practice. Connecting experts across Cleveland Clinic fuels more comprehensive patient care and innovation.
Emerging Therapies for Migraine Making Sense of the Hype
Join Zubair Ahmed, MD, as he discusses the commonality and treatment history of migraines, and addresses the practical use of the new class of CGRP monoclonal antibodies for preventing migraines.
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Endoscopic Spine Surgery Relieves Arthritic Back Pain
Cleveland Clinic surgeons now use endoscopic procedures for some of the most complex spine conditions, including scoliosis and other spinal deformities.
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Pain Injections Improve Taste And Smell For Patient With Long COVID
Before COVID-19 hit, Jennifer Henderson had a keen sense of taste and smell. She enjoyed cooking new recipes at home and trying diverse foods at restaurants with her husband, Steve. For most of two years after she contracted the disease, she no longer looked forward to the experiences that had once brought her joy.
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Advancing Scientific Knowledge
Pain involves our mind as well as our bodies. That's why Cleveland Clinic formed C3P – to bring together research expertise to address pain as a physical, neurological, mental and emotional condition.
C3P researchers are investigating how the body and mind work together to signal and process pain on a molecular, cellular and neural network level. Examining these functions in acute and chronic pain identifies potential targets for therapeutics and screening tools that inform patient care.
One key to this research is analyzing large amounts of data, quickly. Cleveland Clinic and IBM's partnership, the Discovery Accelerator, supplies technology that will advance these research capabilities. The Discovery Accelerator includes training and access to high-powered computing resources. The first private quantum computer dedicated to biomedical research, IBM's Quantum System One, is housed on Cleveland Clinic's campus, ready to assist in the future of pain research.
Pain phenotypes classified by machine learning using electroencephalography features
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Discovery and validation of biomarkers to aid the development of safe and effective pain therapeutics: challenges and opportunities
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Time-dynamic pulse modulation of spinal cord stimulation reduces mechanical hypersensitivity and spontaneous pain in rats
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Public Health
Pain is a public health challenge associated with comorbidities like depression, anxiety and sleep deprivation. Pain takes a toll on the body and mind - personal, social and economic consequences are common. Along with recurring healthcare costs, chronic pain is the most common cause of absence from work and long-term disability.
Pain is also behind one of the crises facing our region and nation: opioid misuse. By developing new, non-addictive pain treatments and reducing patient suffering, pain research can help fight this epidemic.
Leadership
Carl Saab, PhD
Staff
Founder and Scientific Director, Cleveland Clinic Consortium for Pain
saabc@ccf.org
Lab Profile
Jianguo Cheng, MD, PhD
Staff
Professor, Anesthesiology, CCLCM-CWRU
Medical Director, Cleveland Clinic Consortium for Pain
Lab Profile