A University of Cincinnati researcher has received a multimillion-dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health amid the partial funding freeze caused by a block imposed by the Trump administration.

The NIH has awarded a $2.1 million grant to College of Medicine researcher Temugin Berta for his work studying chronic pain at the molecular and cellular levels.

The grant was awarded through the Helping End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative, an NIH-wide effort to quickly find scientific solutions to the national opioid public health crisis.

Despite the funding freeze, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports NIH’s HEAL initiative is considered a critical public health priority and is likely to remain active. The initiative is funding more than 1,800 projects nationwide, including research into safe and effective treatment and pain management.

Berta, an associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, hopes to develop new and improved non-addictive treatments.

“While we understand a lot about how postoperative pain develops, we know less about how it naturally resolves,” said Berta. “Our preclinical research examines how disruptions in the body’s natural pain resolution mechanisms can lead to chronic pain — and how restoring these mechanisms could provide safer, more effective treatments.”

Thus far, Berta’s research has identified a key transcription factor that regulates both inflammation and pain resolution. When absent, chronic pain is prone to develop. The research also has found that activating the transcription factor with a small molecule agonist accelerates pain resolution.

“It’s highly significant for the HEAL Initiative because it will reveal new, safer mechanisms for pain resolution,” said Berta.

Berta’s research includes a pending patent. 

Read the Cincinnati Business Courier's complete reporting.