The Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care seeks to improve the quality of life for those living with Chronic Pain
Pain is central to many medical conditions and ailments, and has tremendous impact on quality of life, health care costs and economic productivity. However, the cause of pain is often uncertain, many existing treatments are only modestly effective, and new and more effective therapies are urgently needed.
One area of concern is the development of persistent pain after surgery, which is particularly common after cardiac, breast cancer, and orthopedic surgery. The Institute for Pain Research & Care is a world-class institute with a focus on exploring causes of chronic post-surgical pain, developing new strategies for its prevention, and innovative care for patients. The Institute was made possible as a result of the DeGroote family gift.
Mission
The mission of the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care is to become a cutting edge institute in the area of chronic pain, particularly chronic post-surgical pain, and to establish a network of researchers and trainees in the field.
Vision
Using the conceptual model of chronic post-surgical pain, bring together behavioural, clinical and basic scientists to develop a new understanding of the origin, mechanisms and treatment of chronic pain.
World-Class Facilities for Outstanding Investigators
The Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care is well integrated with the resources, faculty and staff at McMaster’s Faculty of Health Sciences – a research-intensive academic university possessing some of the most advanced scientific and medical facilities in North America.
The Institute is housed on the second floor of the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery.
A Unique Approach
Once chronic pain has developed, it is extremely difficult to establish the causes. The model of chronic post-surgical pain overcomes this challenge in that we can conduct comprehensive assessments of patients scheduled to undergo surgery and before they have developed chronic pain. Surgery is a controlled injury that occurs on a scheduled date and is therefore an invaluable model to both establish causal factors for the development of chronic pain and explore promising strategies to prevent its’ development.
In order to ensure that research is accountable to the needs of patients and clinicians, it is the Institute’s policy to recruit experts in clinical care. This brings to the Institute’s cadre a number of the country’s leading clinicians in the area of arthritis, cardiology, gastroenterology, internal medicine, neurology, population health, surgery and others.
