Funded Research Projects

Maggie Bromberg, PhD

Adolescent Insomnia Questionnaire Validation Study

Funding Agency: Hearst Foundation
Funding Period: 1/1/2014 – 12/31/2015
PI: Maggie Bromberg, PhD

The goal of this project is to develop and validate a new clinical screening questionnaire to assess insomnia symptoms in adolescents, including youth with chronic pain or behavioral sleep disturbances and adolescents without serious medical problems.

Rocío de la Vega, PhD

Mechanisms of change in eHealth psychological treatments for chronic pain in adolescents

Funding Agency: Hearst Foundation
Funding Period: 04/17/2018 – 04/16/2019
PI: Rocío de la Vega, PhD

The goal of this project is to test two competing models to predict benefits from an eHealth psychological intervention in adolescents with chronic pain and to test its impact on readiness to change.

Emily F. Law, PhD

Enhancing Efficacy of Migraine Self-Management in Children with Comorbid Insomnia

Funding Agency: NIH/NICHD (R01HD101471)
Funding Period: 4/1/2020-3/31/2025
PI: Emily F. Law, PhD

The aims of this project are: 1) to evaluate the efficacy of an internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy insomnia intervention, and, 2) to determine the combined effect of internet-delivered cognitive behavioral insomnia and pain intervention in a sample of children and adolescents with migraine and comorbid insomnia.

Psychosocial and Family Risk in Pediatric Chronic Migraine

Funding Agency: NIH/NINDS (K23NS089966)
Funding Period: 7/1/2015 – 6/30/2020
PI: Emily F. Law, PhD

The aim of this project is to validate a psychosocial and family risk screening tool for youth with high frequency and chronic migraine and their parents, and to develop and pilot test a behavioral pain management intervention that is tailored to individual risk factors such as poor sleep.

Administrative Supplement to Psychosocial and Family Risk in Pediatric Chronic Migraine

Funding Agency: NIH/NINDS (K23NS089966-S1)
Funding Period: 7/1/2016 – 6/30/2019
PI: Emily F. Law, PhD

The aim of this administrative supplement is to characterize sleep patterns and insomnia symptoms in youth with high frequency/chronic migraine using objective and subjective measurement tools.  

Amy Lewandowski Holley, PhD

Changing How We Approach Mechanisms of Pain (CHAMP)

Funding Agency: NIH/NICHD (K23HD071946)
Funding Period: 4/15/12 – 2/28/17
PI: Amy Lewandowski Holley, PhD, Site PI: Tonya Palermo, PhD

The aim of this study is to identify factors that place youth at risk for transitioning from acute to chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Caitlin Murray, PhD

Long-Term Developmental and Health Impact of Adolescent Chronic Pain

Funding Agency: NIH/ Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, Ruth L. Kirschsteine National Research Service Award (NRSA) for Individual Post-Doctoral Fellow, F32 HD097807.
Funding Period: May 2019 – June 2021
PI: Caitlin Murray, PhD

The objective of this application is to determine the long-term impact of adolescent chronic pain on developmental and health outcomes in young adulthood, and early vulnerability factors that amplify risk for adverse outcomes. A developmental lifespan framework is applied to examine key transitional outcomes of young adulthood: (1) educational achievement, (2) vocational achievement, (3) peer and romantic relationships, (4) independent living, (5) emotional and physical health (including chronic pain symptoms), and (7) transition to adult medical care.

Tonya Palermo, PhD

Effectiveness of an mHealth psychosocial intervention to prevent transition from acute to chronic postsurgical pain in adolescents

Funding Agency: NICHD and HEAL Initiative, NIH
PIs: Jennifer Rabbitts (contact), Tonya Palermo
Project Period: 9/30/2019 – 8/31/2024

This HEAL Comparative Effectiveness Trial will address the gap in non-pharmacological treatments in perioperative care of adolescents undergoing major musculoskeletal surgery. We will test our psychosocial intervention targeting psychosocial risk factors and teaching pain self-management strategies in 500 adolescents at 15 pediatric spine centers across the nation. If effective, this scalable, low cost intervention will allow broad implementation to reduce opioid exposure and potential for addiction, and prevent chronic postsurgical pain in youth undergoing major musculoskeletal surgery.

Maternal Chronic Pain: Risk for Pain and Poor Outcomes in Children

Funding Agency: NIH/NICHD (R01HD082200), PI: Anna Wilson, PhD
Funding Period: 08/01/2015 – 06/30/2020
Site PI: Tonya Palermo, PhD

The objective of this study is to understand how maternal chronic pain influences risk for child pain and negative health outcomes through several direct and transactional pathways.

Web-MAP II: An Internet CBT Intervention for Pediatric Chronic Pain and Disability

Funding Agency: NIH/NICHD (R01HD062538)
Funding Period: 8/25/2010-6/30/2016
PI: Tonya Palermo, PhD

The aim of this project is to evaluate the efficacy of an Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy intervention in a large multicenter sample of children and adolescents with chronic pain and their parents recruited from pain centers across the U.S. and Canada.

WebMAP Vanderbilt: Predicting Treatment Response in Pediatric Functional Abdominal Pain

Funding Agency: NIH/NICHD (R01HD076983), PI: Lynn Walker, PhD
Funding Period: 04/01/14 – 03/31/19
Site PI: Tonya Palermo, PhD

The objective of this study is to identify individual differences in pediatric functional abdominal pain (FAP) that predict differential health outcomes and can be used to develop tailored approaches to the evaluation and treatment of FAP.

Jennifer Rabbits, MB ChB

Effectiveness of an mHealth psychosocial intervention to prevent transition from acute to chronic postsurgical pain in adolescents

Funding Agency: NICHD and HEAL Initiative, NIH
PIs: Jennifer Rabbitts (contact), Tonya Palermo
Project Period: 9/30/2019 – 8/31/2024

This HEAL Comparative Effectiveness Trial will address the gap in non-pharmacological treatments in perioperative care of adolescents undergoing major musculoskeletal surgery. We will test our psychosocial intervention targeting psychosocial risk factors and teaching pain self-management strategies in 500 adolescents at 15 pediatric spine centers across the nation. If effective, this scalable, low cost intervention will allow broad implementation to reduce opioid exposure and potential for addiction, and prevent chronic postsurgical pain in youth undergoing major musculoskeletal surgery.

Mechanisms of Transition from Acute to Chronic Pain in Youth Undergoing Musculoskeletal Surgery

Funding Agency: National Institute Of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (R01AR073780)
Funding Period: 07/12/2018-06/30/2023
PI: Jennifer A. Rabbitts, MD

The aims of this study are to develop acute recovery indices associated with higher rates of CPSP, and identify the psychophysical and psychosocial mechanisms that underlie the transition from acute to chronic pain after major pediatric surgery. This study is expected to identify modifiable factors underlying the transition from acute to chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP), to reduce exposure to opioids and decrease the overall incidence of CPSP, a disabling condition affecting 20% youth undergoing major surgery.

MAPS-2 (Monitoring Activity, Pain and Sleep After Surgery)

Funding Agency: NIH/NICHD (K23 HD078239)
Funding Period: 8/25/2014-6/30/2019
PI: Jennifer Rabbitts, MB ChB

The objective of this application is to document longitudinal trajectories of pain and health-related quality of life in children following surgery, and to identify individual differences that place children at risk for both acute and chronic postsurgical pain and deteriorations in HRQOL.

See Wan Tham, MB BS

Sleep Deficiency and Autonomic Function in Pediatric Chronic Abdominal Pain

Funding Agency: NIDDK
Funding Period: 07/2019 – 06/2024
PI: See Wan Tham, MBBS

The aims of this study are to compare the longitudinal trajectories of sleep deficiency, pain processing, autonomic and psychological function in adolescents with chronic abdominal pain compared to healthy adolescents.

SCOUT: The Role of Sleep in the Persistence of Post-Concussion Syndrome in Adolescents

Funding Agency: Center for Child Health, Behavior & Development Mentored Scholars Award
Funding Period: 10/1/15 – 9/30/17
PI: See Wan Tham, MBBS

This project aims to establish the feasibility of identifying adolescents at the time of a sports-related concussion and enrolling them into a prospective study to track sleep and post-concussive symptoms from early post-injury to one month after concussion using subjective and objective measures (actigraphy).

Sleep and Pain Responsivity in Teens (SPIRIT)

Funding Agency: Sleep Research Society Foundation Early Career Development Research Award
Funding Period: 1/1/14 – 12/31/15
PI: See Wan Tham, MB BS

The aims of this project are to determine the relationship between sleep duration and pain experience in adolescents with and without chronic pain conditions, and to identify the association of psychological factors and biological stress response in this relationship.

Karen Weiss, PhD

Mediators of Treatment in Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation

Funding Agency: Center for Clinical and Translational Research (Seattle Children’s Research Institute)
Funding period: 10/2018 – 10/2020
PI: Karen Weiss, PhD

This study investigates mechanisms that lead to improvements in functioning and pain for patients who participate in the Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Program (PReP).

Participate in Research

Help us answer questions about childhood health and illness, and help other children in the future. Learn more.