BonePainII · A European Training Network to Combat Bone Pain

In Europe 20 - 30% of adults are affected at any one time by musculoskeletal pain such as arthritic pain, lower back pain, pain from osteoporotic fractures and bone metastasis, and also most rare bone diseases are very painful. Despite a huge negative impact on the quality of life of the patients and on society as a whole, no specific treatment is yet available. Therefore, there is a strong need to train highly skilled researchers within bone pain and thereby make the foundation for improved therapies. In this proposal we bring together 3 industrial beneficiaries, 8 academic beneficiaries, and one industrial partner all committed to train a new generation of 15 creative, entrepreneurial and innovative early stages researchers in bone pain research and transferable skills. The early stages researchers will train with some of the foremost neuroscientists and bone researchers in academia and industry across Europe. The BonePainII training network will provide the early stage researchers with expertise that will enable them to gain high level employment both in academia and industry. In a multidisciplinary, intersectoral and integrated project we will develop advanced 3D microfluidic in vitro platforms and high throughput techniques to investigate bone-neuron interactions; validate and investigate novel in vivo models of bone pain including a rare bone disease; and using cutting-edge technologies to identify key mechanisms underlying bone pain in osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer-induced bone pain.