RESOLVE is a commonwealth government-funded (NHMRC) randomised controlled trial, investigating the effectiveness of new non-drug treatment programs for people suffering from chronic low back pain.

Research shows that there are changes in the brain when someone has pain for a long period of time. It is believed that these changes make recovery from pain slower and more difficult. Using the knowledge of the brain and how it changes with pain, researchers at NeuRA developed two new treatment programs for chronic low back pain. These treatment programs were trialled by 276 participants and included:

• non-invasive brain stimulation
• mental movement training
• sensory training
• laser therapy to the lower back
• physical movement training with mirrors
• pulsed electromagnetic energy to the lower back

RESOLVE consolidates the expertise of scientists and clinicians from NeuRA (Prof James McAuley, Dr Matthew Bagg, Dr Aidan Cashin, Dr Markus Huebscher, Dr Martin Rabey, Ms Edel O’Hagan, Ms Hayley Leake, Mr Rodrigo Rizzo, Prof Rob Herbert), the University of Notre Dame Australia Fremantle (Prof Ben Wand), the University of South Australia (Prof Lorimer Moseley, A/​Prof Tasha Stanton), the University of Sydney (Prof Chris Maher, Dr Serigne Lo), the University of Technology Sydney (Prof Stephen Goodall, Dr Sopany Saing), the University of Oxford (Dr Hopin Lee) and Brunel University London (Dr Neil O’Connell).