CCRE SPINE 

 

Spinal Pain affects around 80% of the population across all age groups and its cause is largely unknown.

 

The economic burden of musculoskeletal conditions in Australia is second only to cardiovascular disease, and spinal conditions represent the greatest proportion of this burden due to the impact of long term disability.

In recognition of this, a 5-year $2 million Centre of Clinical Research Excellence (CCRE) grant has been awarded by the National Health & Medical Research Council to Professor Paul Hodges and a team of Chief Investigators at the University of Queensland. Centres of Clinical Research Excellence are the NHMRC's "stamp of excellence" in clinical research.

The NHMRC Centre of Clinical Research Excellence in Spinal Pain, Injury and Health (CCRE Spine) is dedicated to improving outcomes for people with spinal pain.

The CCRE aims to:

 

     ≈   Improve outcomes for people with spinal pain

     ≈   Advance understanding of physiology and pathophysiology of spinal pain

     ≈   Translate findings from basic research to clinical practice

     ≈   Establish coordinated multidisciplinary research to reduce the burden of spinal pain

     ≈   Predict and prevent the transition from acute to chronic states

     ≈   Train a new generation of transdisciplinary clinical scientists

     ≈   Rapidly assess new treatment possibilities in pre-clinical studies

     ≈   Evaluate the effectiveness/cost effectiveness of innovative diagnostic/therapeutic technologies and encourage Australian commercialisation opportunities for new discoveries.

     ≈   Encourage community/user participation in direction of research programs