E20: Decoding Pain | Benjamin Nephew and Emmanuel Agu | NIH IMPACT Study

Chronic pain affects millions of Americans and too often leads to dependence on opioids for relief. But what if doctors could predict, before writing a prescription, whether a patient would respond better to non-drug therapies like meditation? This episode explores groundbreaking research at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) that combines neuroscience, data science, and artificial intelligence to personalize pain treatment with guests Benjamin Nephew, assistant research professor, biology and biotechnology, and Emmanuel Agu, Harold L. Jurist ’61 and Heather E. Jurist Dean’s Professor of Computer Science. The study “Integrative Mindfulness-based Predictive Approach for Chronic low back pain Treatment" or IMPACT is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) initiative. In addition to Nephew and Agu,  WPI researchers include Jean King (Principal Investigator), the Peterson Family Dean of Arts and Sciences at WPI, Carolina Ruiz, the WPI Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences and Harold L. Jurist ’61 and Heather E. Jurist Dean’s Professor of Computer Science, Angela Incollingo Rodriguez, assistant professor of psychological and cognitive sciences, Zheyang Wu, professor, mathematical sciences.