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Center for Advanced Pain Studies

Director’s Welcome

UT Dallas > Center for Advanced Pain Studies > About > Director’s Welcome

As the founding director of the Center for Advanced Pain Studies (CAPS), I welcome your interest in our center. CAPS was founded in 2019 through a Strategic Center Investment Program (SCI) grant that pledges four years of support for our Center from UTD. Our mission is to advance the basic science of pain. We strive to take this new knowledge and develop non-opioid therapeutics to better treat pain.

The foundation of our scientific endeavors is funding from NIH and other federal sources. CAPS faculty are currently supported by over $10,000,000 in federal funding. Since our founding, CAPS faculty have been awarded three new R01’s from NIH, demonstrating our commitment to continuing to grow our research enterprise. Philanthropic support to CAPS is invested directly into our research mission. We are entirely focused on creating innovative solutions for pain treatment through cutting-edge research in our laboratories.

OPIOID CRISIS OVERVIEW 1999 – 2017

The opioid crisis in America is driven by the prevalence of chronic pain. Currently, it is estimated that up to 30% of Americans suffer from chronic pain. Without a clear pharmaceutical solution to treat chronic pain, medical professionals rely heavily on opioid-based pain medication.

  • In 2017, over 191 million opioid prescriptions were distributed to patients in America.
  • In 2010, 500 million opioid pills were sold in Florida alone, which is more than 2 pills for every adult in the U.S.
  • The reliance on opioid-based medication to treat chronic pain has fueled the opioid crisis.
  • According to research, Americans are more likely to die of an accidental opioid overdose than from a motor vehicle crash.

The Center for Advanced Pain Studies is working toward discovering non-opiate therapeutics to treat chronic pain.

Opioid Overdose Statistics (1999 – 2017)

  • Total opioid overdoses: 700,000 overdoses
  • Opioid overdose deaths: 400,000 deaths
    • 162,000 deaths from natural and semisynthetic opioids
    • 100,000 deaths from heroin
    • 67,000 deaths from methadone
    • 93,000 deaths from synthetic opioids (other than methadone)

Prescription Opioids

  • Effective for treating acute pain
  • Recent research suggests they may exacerbate pain if used long-term
  • More than 50% of drug overdoses involve prescription or illicit opioid use
  • A non-opiate alternative is needed for chronic pain treatment

Age Adjusted Death Rate for All Opioid Overdoses, 1999-2017

Graph: The y-axis represents deaths per 100,000 population, ranging from 0 to 25. The x-axis shows years from 1999 to 2017. The bars indicate a steady increase in opioid overdose death rates over time, with a notable rise after 2013, peaking in 2017.
The age-adjusted death rate for opioid overdoses increased significantly from 1999 to 2017, with a sharp rise after 2013, highlighting the growing severity of the opioid crisis.

Chronic Pain

  • Majority of sufferers are over 45 years old
  • Defined as persistent pain lasting more than six months
  • Affects over 100 million people
  • Estimated yearly cost: Over $600 billion

Sources:

  • CDC – Opioid Epidemic
  • Injury Facts – Preventable Death Overview

Organizations Mentioned:

  • The UT Dallas School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences
  • Center for Advanced Pain Studies

Chronic pain is one of the most important medical problems facing our society. According to a 2016 National Health Interview Survey, “20.4% (50 million) of U.S. adults had chronic pain and 8.0% (19.6 million) of U.S. adults had high-impact chronic pain.” The prevalence of chronic pain coupled with the rise in prescription opioids to treat pain has led to a sustained increase in opioid related deaths over the past decade. Astonishingly, 130 people die every day from an opioid overdose.

Unfortunately, this is a crisis that does not have an easy answer. Opioids, while extremely useful and efficacious for relieving severe acute pain, should likely not be used for chronic pain treatment, and may even exacerbate pain when given over long periods of time. New therapeutics are badly needed for chronic pain patients. These new therapeutics are likely to arise from innovative basic science research. Our focus is on taking new approaches to pain target identification and then developing therapeutics around those targets. We are entrepreneurial, recognizing that private sector investment is key to moving new drugs to the marketplace. I do not think that you will find another pain center in the world that is more active in accelerating basic science toward the clinic.

Dr. Ted Price
Director, Center for Advanced Pain Studies