NeuRA researcher, Dr Aidan Cashin, has been awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Investigator Grant for his work on chronic pain.

The NHMRC Emerging Leadership (EL 1) Fellow, Deputy Director of the Centre for Pain IMPACT at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) and Conjoint Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences at the University of NSW, Aidan Cashin has been awarded an NHMRC Emerging Leadership (EL2) grant in the latest round of Investigator Grants. The $1.6 million grant was awarded to ​“Improve care for chronic pain: implementing effective treatments and reducing medicine-related harms”. 

“Chronic pain conditions such as low back pain are a leading cause of disease burden globally and affecting 20% of all Australians,” Dr Cashin said. 

“My research has driven a paradigm shift towards new, effective and safe non-medicine chronic pain treatment approaches that aim to directly target the mechanisms of pain. 

“I will use state of the art research methods to develop and translate knowledge into new treatments, models and pathways to improve access to and implement effective pain management, and reduce medicine-related harms.” 

“My research aims to reduce the burden of chronic pain and transform what and how care is provided for people with chronic pain in Australia and worldwide.”

NeuRA CEO and Institute Director, Professor Matthew Kiernan, congratulated Dr Cashin on the his grant, noting that over the past year, two NeuRA researchers have received EL2 grants, reflecting NeuRA’s continuous pursuit of excellence in research.

“Congratulations to Dr Cashin and his team on this grant, which recognises their work in addressing chronic pain and adds significant strength to the Translational Neuroscience pillar,” Prof Kiernan said. 

“Chronic pain is a substantial issue both here in Australia and globally. This team is working with clinicians, patients, industry and consumers, looking to influence policy and practice globally.”