The lack of understanding of the molecular mechanisms that drive chronic neck pain has hampered the development of effective mechanism-specific therapeutics. We will use RNA sequencing on joint and nerve tissues of patients with chronic and acute neck pain, coupled with computational biology methods and careful patient phenotyping, to examine how molecules produced in the diseased tissue drive chronic pain. Our work has the potential to reveal new molecular targets for future drug development.
A collaboration with Ted Price from the University of Texas at Dallas, and Christoph Hofstetter, Neurosurgery at the University of Washington.