{"id":563,"date":"2023-12-09T03:11:57","date_gmt":"2023-12-09T03:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/annualreports.healthsciences.arizona.edu\/?post_type=story&p=563"},"modified":"2023-12-18T23:32:23","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T23:32:23","slug":"building-a-comprehensive-approach-to-treating-pain-and-addiction","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/annualreports.healthsciences.arizona.edu\/2023\/story\/building-a-comprehensive-approach-to-treating-pain-and-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Pain and addiction: Building a comprehensive response"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2017, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared a public health emergency to address the opioid epidemic, which is responsible for the deaths of more than 47,000 people a year in the U.S.<\/p>\n

Both issues \u2013 chronic pain and the opioid epidemic \u2013 are complex, and finding a solution will require a collaborative mindset and a multifaceted approach. That\u2019s where the University of Arizona Health Sciences Comprehensive Center for Pain and Addiction<\/a> comes in.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody seems to know somebody with an addiction problem,\u201d said Todd Vanderah, PhD<\/strong>, director of the Comprehensive Center for Pain and Addiction and Regents Professor and head of the College of Medicine – Tucson<\/a>\u2019s Department of Pharmacology<\/a>. \u201cWe don\u2019t do a great job of treating chronic pain, since physicians and insurance plans have been limited to the idea of simply prescribing a medication like opiates. When you look at how many people have troubles with pain and addiction, it\u2019s interesting that nobody has organized a center that focuses on all the aspects \u2013 i.e., health care, education, research, clinical trials, legislation, technology \u2013 to improve outcomes. That’s our goal \u2013 we’re going to look at all of it as a cohesive group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the center\u2019s scientists, Vanderah included, are researching alternatives to opioids and testing those novel molecular compounds in preclinical studies. Other members, including Mohab Ibrahim, MD, PhD<\/strong>, the center\u2019s medical director, specialize in studying and treating chronic pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen someone comes to us with a chronic pain condition, we do a comprehensive medical exam and history. We try to find out everything that’s medically related to the condition, and based on that, we’ll come up with a complete plan,\u201d said Ibrahim, a professor of anesthesiology<\/a> in the College of Medicine \u2013 Tucson. \u201cIt\u2019s not always medications that help. Sometimes, it\u2019s something as simple as lifestyle modification.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Comprehensive Center for Pain and Addiction offers researchers an opportunity to build on preclinical studies in medicinal chemistry, drug formulation and pharmacokinetics, with potential clinical trials of Food and Drug Administration-approved investigational new drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be like a dream to go from the chemistry of actually making new compounds, all the way through to patient clinical trials and having a novel medication or therapy accepted by the FDA for use worldwide,\u201d said Vanderah, who is also a member of the university’s BIO5 Institute<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way to advance and move forward is to propose new ideas and explore them and see if they can provide any benefits for the patients,\u201d Ibrahim added. \u201cOne of the ways to do that is through research, and that’s where the center becomes the perfect bridge between clinical medicine and research medicine. It\u2019s where the pain physicians, pharmacologists, chemists, pharmacists, neuroscientist and biomedical engineers can come together and share ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to drug development, key parts of the center\u2019s mission include community outreach, education, legislation and technology development.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think many physicians don\u2019t know enough about opiates and addiction, but in addition to educating our clinicians is getting the information to the public and into the schools,\u201d Vanderah said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":548,"parent":0,"template":"","college":[],"uahs_theme":[13],"class_list":["post-563","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","uahs_theme-precision-health-care-for-all"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPain and addiction: Building a comprehensive response - University of Arizona Health Sciences Annual Impact Report 2024<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/annualreports.healthsciences.arizona.edu\/2023\/story\/building-a-comprehensive-approach-to-treating-pain-and-addiction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pain and addiction: Building a comprehensive response - 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