In 2013, PRICE occupied its physical home in the new Clinical and Translational Research Building (CTRB), a state-of-the-art research building that serves as the home for clinical and translational research at the University of Florida. The CTRB provides offices for the PRICE Director, multiple PRICE research coordinators, and staff, as well as the Director of the Pain Clinical Research Unit.
PRICE offers comprehensive support through our Pain Clinical Research Unit (PainCRU) for investigators including facilities and equipment.
Pain Clinical Research Unit (PainCRU)
The PainCRU directed by Dr. Joseph Riley III, is a component of PRICE, which provides a patient-oriented research venue designed to facilitate and foster clinical and translational pain research at UF. The PainCRU currently occupies more than 2,000 square feet of space, which includes two CTRB locations: the Clinical Research Center and the Institute on Aging’s Aging Rehabilitation Research Center (ARRC) and the second floor of the Dental Tower at the University of Florida Health Sciences Center.
Altogether, the PainCRU includes six fully equipped psychophysical testing units, each approximately 150 square feet. The laboratory space also includes multiple clinical examination and interview rooms. Each of the six sensory testing units is equipped for assessing thermal pain and pressure pain, and four of the laboratories are also equipped for assessing cold pressor pain. All units include equipment for measuring cardiovascular responses. The PainCRU facilities in the CTRB are contiguous with the greatly expanded UF Clinical Research Center (CRC), which has multiple general use examination rooms, laboratory and sample processing facilities, as well as several infusion and procedure rooms. The UF CRC offers nursing support for PainCRU studies that involve repeated blood draws and/or administration of medications.
Services
The Pain CRU provides the following services:
- Consultation on design and implementation of pain assessment protocols into research studies – Because pain is a nearly ubiquitous accompaniment to dental and medical conditions, pain assessment is an important component of many clinical research projects. We can provide consultation to investigators on optimal pain assessment methods, ranging from basic pain scales to sophisticated laboratory-based pain measurement protocols.
- Collection of psychophysical pain assessment data – If an investigator would like to include some pain testing, but does not have the staff or facilities to do this, we can be the “one-stop pain shop” that provides space, equipment, and trained personnel to assist investigators with the administration of laboratory pain assessment methods. Our staff has undergone considerable training and calibration in the conduct of pain testing methods. Pain CRU staff can train your research staff in the conduct of these procedures, or we can arrange to have our staff conduct the testing ourselves in the Pain CRU facility.
Equipment List
The following lab equipment is available for use by PRICE researchers:
- Medoc TSA 2 with fMRI compatible thermode
- Medoc Vibratory Sensory Analyzer (VSA-3000)
- Medoc Computerized pressure algometer
- Cold pressor
- Analogue pressure algometer
- Von Frey filaments
- Biopac MP-150
- Phillips Actiwatch Spectrum Plus · QST.Lab TCS thermal testing device · GAITRite · Spiropalm 6MWT
Contact
To discuss using the Pain CRU’s services, please contact:
