The candidate is an Assistant Professor at the University of Florida. He has a professional degree in physical therapy and a PhD in Rehabilitation Science. His ultimate goal is to become an independent investigator pursuing multi-disciplinary investigations developing effective interventions for musculoskeletal pain that combine cognitive, behavioral and peripheral approaches. The proposed development award allows the candidate to develop expertise in the use and interpretation of psychological and psychophysical measures in both clinical groups and experimentally induced pain. The candidate will be mentored by Dr Mike Robinson who will help him transition from junior faculty member to an independent investigator through didactic course work, intense mentorship and involvement in ongoing and proposed research. The University of Florida has a strong commitment to rehabilitation research and is committed to supporting the candidate through the course of this mentored award.
The specific aims of this research proposal are to 1) quantify psychological and neurophysiological factors that are associated with development of acute experimental endogenous pain after exercise and 2) determine if early application of manual therapies effectively modify those factors that are believed to be linked to the development of chronic pain syndromes In Experiment 1 we will examine the associations among psychological factors, proxy measures of central sensitization and the development and maintenance of acute muscular pain. We will enroll 52 subjects and quantify impairment, disability, and changes in sensory perception and temporal summation after inducing experimental muscle pain in the low back via eccentric exercise. Subjects will be followed for two weeks. In Experiment 2, we will test the effects of a body-based intervention, spinal manipulative therapy, that has shown evidence of effectiveness in patients with clinical LBP but for which the mechanisms are not known. We plan to estimate neurobiological effects from measures of temporal summation and pain. Back pain is a large healthcare problem. Safe development of an experimental model of back pain is very important because it means that methods of treating back pain can be tested in a controlled manner. This means that most of the other things associated with back pain like the type of injury, the time after injury, or patients'emotional and psychological state can be accounted for when testing a treatment.
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