Professor and director of UMSON's Placebo Beyond Opinions organized research center is co-investigator on multiple awards related to pain research.
Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS, professor; director, Placebo Beyond Opinions Center; and MPower Professor, has been named a UMMC/UMB 3rd annual Innovation Challenge Award recipient, along with other collaborators, for the project "Impact of Virtual Reality on Chemotherapy Induced Peripheral Neuropathy Pain: a Pilot Study."
The competition builds off the shared University of Maryland Medical System value of discovery, welcoming all community members to submit ideas for improved solutions and novel practices that advance health outcomes for patients, families, or team members located across the Downtown and/or Midtown Campuses.
The three-person team was awarded $25,000 to support the project, which aims to investigate the effect of virtual reality (VR) educational modules on chronic cancer symptoms at home.
The study will be completed over one month and will investigate the effect of pain-specific VR modules on the physical and psychological responses to chronic cancer symptoms. This study can provide valuable information for a long-term study in the future. The project plans to enroll 30 participants with chronic cancer symptoms (including pain, neuropathy, fatigue, anxiety, and difficulty sleeping) in the study, which will take place at the participants' homes with help from the Colloca Lab staff at UMSON.
In addition, Colloca is a co-investigator on a $2.5 million, U24 award from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. The project will establish a collaborative network of scientists and clinicians from various disciplines to address major gaps in our understanding of music-based interventions (MBIs) in chronic pain. By bridging gaps in basic, applied, and clinical research, the project aims to optimize MBI research and accelerate its programs.