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Katherine Rudolph, P.T., Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and director of the Motion Analysis Laboratory, and colleagues Tamara King, Ph.D., assistant professor in the College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Chunhao Tu, Ph.D., associate professor in the College of Pharmacy, have received funding from the National Institutes of Health’s Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) Program (R15).

Their research, titled "Chronic Pain, Motor Output and Motor Learning in Knee Osteoarthritis,” investigates the relationship between pain processing and motor adaptation of individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA). The number of years that knee OA patients endure pain not only takes a toll on their knee function and quality of life, but it also impacts how the nervous system processes pain and other sensory signals. Abnormal pain processing is thought to coincide with altered processing of other sensory input. Sensory input is vital to appropriate motor output, so people with chronic pain from knee OA may have altered motor output that relates to their pain.

The data from the study will provide valuable insight into the ability of people with chronic pain from knee OA to learn new ways of moving. The results could also have an immediate influence on the way physical therapists treat people with knee OA and other people with chronic pain.

Rudolph is the grant’s principal investigator, and King and Tu are the co-investigators. Through the grant, they will receive funding of nearly $400,000 over a three-year period.

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