Understanding the mechanisms underlying the transition to chronic pain is a key to mitigating the dual epidemics of chronic pain and opioid use in the U.S. In response to RFA-RM-18-031, and as part of the NIH Common Fund Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures (A2CPS) Program, we will establish a Data Integration and Resource Center (DIRC) to integrate imaging, physiology, -omics, behavioral, and clinical data to develop biosignatures for the transition to chronic pain. The Center will be based in the Department of Biostatistics at JHU, a nexus for a wide range of collaborators with expertise in (1) advanced data science and machine learning, (2) neuroimaging, (3) genomics and related -omics, (4) wearable computing and smartphone-based behavioral assessment, (5) systems-level predictive biosignatures, (6) software engineering and high-performance computing, and (7) world-renowned pain researchers from JHU and other institutions. JHU Biostatistics is the top-ranked department of its kind in the country, and its unique blend of faculty provides the ability to be nimble and accommodate analysis of diverse data types as needed, and a unique capacity for scientific outreach through online courses and other forums. To deliver computing infrastructure and cloud-based computing for A2CPS, we partner with the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), who have a long track record of large-scale collaborations and have already built many of the cloud computing tools we see as ideal for this project. The Center will consist of three components and an Administrative Core. The Administrative Core will lead the Center and facilitate interaction among the components of the Center and across the A2CPS consortium. The Data Coordination Component (DCC) will provide the infrastructure for storage and processing, analysis pipelines, cloud computing, and portals for data upload/query/export, in addition to other technical deliverables. The Data Integration and Analysis Component (DIAC) will provide data type-specific content for pipelines and analyses of data collected by the A2CPS consortium. The Scientific Outreach Component (SOC) will use DCC- developed portal infrastructure to maintain the consortium intranet and perform outreach via the public A2CPS portal. It will also organize a variety of in-person and online training and outreach programs, including the creation of free, online courses disseminating information about chronic pain and A2CPS tools, data, and models.
Understanding the mechanisms underlying the transition to chronic pain is a key to mitigating the dual epidemics of chronic pain and opioid use in the U.S. As part of the NIH Common Fund Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures (A2CPS) Program, we will establish a Data Integration and Resource Center (DIRC) entitled the ?Data Center for Acute to Chronic Pain Biosignatures? at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and collaborating institutions. The Center will integrate imaging, peripheral physiology, genomics and other omics, behavior, and clinical measures to develop biosignatures for the transition to chronic pain.
