Chronic and acute pain affect ~100 million people in the US and greatly increase national rates of morbidity, mortality, and disability. Pain not only negatively impacts individual lives in significant ways, it also imposes enormous national economic costs (up to $635B annually). The misuse of and addiction to opioids, such as prescription pain relievers, heroin, and synthetic opioids is a serious national crisis. Currently ~130 Americans die of opioid overdose every day. Opioid addiction can also be driven by causes other than pain, such as social, economic, and "diseases of despair". By tackling this national crisis, the proposed center-planning effort will align with a major priority of the United States and the states of Florida, Pennsylvania, and Arizona which in 2017 had the 3rd, 4th, and 22nd most opioid-overdose deaths in the country respectively. Inspired by the neurotechnological breakthroughs enabled by the convergence of engineering with the fields of neuroscience, neurology, and neurosurgery, teams from the Universities of Florida, Pittsburgh, and Arizona propose to plan the Center for Neural Engineering Systems with Societal Impact (NESSI) to achieve lasting transformative impact on the opioid crisis with new neural-engineered systems that can dramatically reduce pain and others that reduce addiction. In addition to the positive societal impacts of improved human health and reduced economic burden, which we expect will be made possible by new neurotechnologies to be developed by the envisioned center, this ERC planning effort will use its early-stage emphasis on inclusion to extensively engage underrepresented minorities and women in all activities and with all stakeholders. Through the proposed planning process, our diverse team will integrate together strategic plans for the center research, workforce development, culture of inclusion, and innovation ecosystem into a single consistent vision for the entire center. NESSI will develop graduates with skills, training, and experiences that make them well suited to successfully translate innovative neurotechnologies for pain and addiction in a globally competitive marketplace.
Inspired by the neurotechnological breakthroughs enabled by the convergence of engineering with the fields of neuroscience, neurology, and neurosurgery, teams from the Universities of Florida, Pennsylvania, and Arizona propose to plan the Center for Neural Engineering Systems with Societal Impact (NESSI) to achieve lasting transformative impact on the opioid crisis with new neural-engineered systems that can dramatically reduce pain and others that reduce addiction. Specifically, our strategy is to develop neuroengineered tools, technologies, and systems that advance fundamental understanding of the complex neurobiological systems of pain and addiction in ways that can be translated into novel, comprehensive, and effective solutions. Although neuromodulation represents a drug-free alternative to opioids for pain management, barriers exist that prevent it from replacing opioids as the front-line therapy for the management of severe orofacial, post-surgical, and visceral pain. In addition, neither existing pharmaceuticals nor conventional bioelectronic neuromodulation have the spatial, temporal, and circuit-targeting precision needed to treat severe addiction. To overcome these challenges, NESSI will assemble a broad team of disciplinary experts to advanced knowledge of the relevant (1) societal needs, (2) neural circuits, (3) use of modeling and AI to create rationally designed reliable neural-interface systems capable of selective stimulation, (4) effective methods to validate chronic neural interface systems in advanced preclinical models, and (5) means to build partnerships with leading practitioners and industry to create a roadmap towards future successful clinical translation and commercialization of advanced neurotechnologies to treat pain and addiction. Our proposed ERC-planning process will start with training to ensure it is informed by the best practices of inclusion and unconscious bias. Next, a sequential set of working-group (WG) meetings will focus on 5 primary research themes: Target, Model, Implement, Validate, and Translate. Output from earlier WG meetings, such as reports and SWOT analyses, will be passed on to later WG meetings to inform their discussion. The outputs of all WG meetings will be considered at an Integration Meeting focused on bringing all of the guidance together and developing preliminary vision documents for the research, workforce-development, inclusion, and innovation-ecosystem components of the center. Lastly, a center-wide Final Strategic Meeting will be organized to solidify the center vision for all components. This planning grant will support the creation of a detailed roadmap for targeted, effective, and efficient use of neurotechnology for a wider range of pain conditions and to address severe addiction to opioids.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
