Robert H. Dworkin, Ph.D.

My current research focuses on methodologic aspects of acute and chronic pain clinical trials, especially identifying factors that increase the assay sensitivity of a trial to detect differences between an active and a control or comparison treatment. With funding from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), we are examining in large databases of acute and chronic pain trials the relationships between study methodologic features and study outcomes and placebo group responses, as well as comparing the responsiveness to treatment effects of different primary and secondary outcome measures. These studies and other efforts to improve the efficiency and informativeness of analgesic clinical trials are being conducted under the auspices of the Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations, Innovations, Opportunities, and Networks (ACTTION) public-private partnership with the FDA, of which I serve as director.

In addition, in collaboration with Dennis Turk at the University of Washington, we are currently conducting a randomized clinical trial of tramadol, cognitive-behavior therapy, and health education alone and in combination for the treatment of fibromyalgia.

I have also been very interested in the identification of risk factors for the development of chronic neuropathic pain. One of our major results has been that patients with greater acute pain are more likely to develop chronic pain. This suggests that attenuating acute pain might prevent chronic pain, and an additional focus of my research has involved developing approaches to test this hypothesis.

Funding

HHSF223201400191C (9/30/14-9/29/17)
Food and Drug Administration
Analysis of FDA clinical trial data to improve assay sensitivity and informativeness of analgesic clinical trials
Role: Principal Investigator

U01 FD004187-01 (9/15/11-8/31/16)
Food and Drug Administration
Analgesic clinical trial innovations, opportunities, and networks (ACTION)
Role: Principal Investigator

1R01 AR059102-01A (9/1/11-7/31/16)
NIH/National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
Combined behavioral and analgesic trial for fibromyalgia (COMBAT-FM)
Role: Principal Investigator

T32 NS007338 (7/1/90-6/30/15)
NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Experimental therapeutics of neurological disease
Role: Preceptor

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