We are pleased to announce that principal investigator (PI) Benedict Alter, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor and Director of Translational Pain Research in our department, has been awarded a 2025 Virginia Kaufman Pain Research Challenge award, receiving $75,000 in research funding from the University of Pittsburgh Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI).
The award was announced during Pain Day 2025 on May 7 at Alumni Hall.
Dr. Alter’s funded project, titled “Real-Time Motor Cortex Stimulation for Knee Osteoarthritis (OA) Pain During Walking,” aims to develop a wearable, noninvasive brain stimulation device that delivers real-time transcranial electrical stimulation to the motor cortex while patients with knee OA are walking. This approach is designed to modulate central pain processing during movement—offering new hope for patients, especially those who suffer from central sensitization, a condition that amplifies pain signals and diminishes the effectiveness of conventional treatments.
The study will build on novel technology known as Painless Pulsed Transcranial Electrical Stimulation, co-developed by Dr. Alter and co-PIs Pulkit Grover, PhD, and Jasmine Kwasa, PhD, from Carnegie Mellon University, and Vishal Jain, PhD, from Synapse Symphony, Inc. Preliminary data in fibromyalgia patients demonstrate the feasibility and tolerability of this stimulation method and its potential to significantly reduce chronic pain.
The project represents a pioneering approach that could transform the management of chronic pain in OA and other conditions by aligning neuromodulation with real-world functional movement. If successful, this work will lay the foundation for personalized, on-the-go pain therapy, expanding the reach of brain stimulation technologies beyond the clinical setting.
To learn more about the Virginia Kaufman Pain Research Challenge and other funded projects, please visit the CTSI funding page.