CTSDMC A2CPS Team
About A2CPS
The Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures (A2CPS) program will collect data from 3,600 people who have recently had surgery or musculoskeletal injury and track them for a 6-month period. The goal is to develop a set of biomarkers, or “signatures”, that can predict patients that are more likely to transition to chronic pain. These signatures use measurements, including those from a patient’s genetics, brain structure and function, and advanced statistical and artificial intelligence approaches to create a measure unique to that person. This measure will hopefully allow researchers to develop better, more individualized treatments for patients and better understand the biological basis of pain.
This A2CPS Consortium is funded through the National Institutes of Health Common Fund, which supports cross-cutting programs that are expected to have exceptionally high impact.
A2CPS Video Abstract
This video abstract describes the A2CPS project and our June 2023 publication in PAIN
A2CPS Collaboration
The CTSDMC has partnered with Dr. Kathleen Sluka and Dr. Laura Frey Law and their team of researchers in the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences for this project. Together, this group is funded as the Clinical Coordinating Center for the A2CPS Consortium. The major goals of the CCC are to:
- Lead the development and implementation of clinical protocols, which includes developing milestones, protocols and training procedures; standardizing electronic health record data; developing regulatory procedures including the coordination of a central IRB; and developing consortium-wide Standard Operating Procedures.
- Provide oversight and management of collaborative activities across the consortium to support the overall goals of A2CPS, which includes project management and central and on-site monitoring.
- Facilitate transparent and effective communication between consortium members
Meet the A2CPS CO-PIs
Kathleen Sluka, PT, PhD, FAPTA
Dr. Sluka is currently a professor of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science and Neuroscience and Pharmacology in the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa. She is also a member of the Neuroscience Institute and Pain research Program at the University of Iowa.
Laura A. Frey Law, MPT, MS, PhD
Dr. Frey Law is currently a professor of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science in the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa. She is also a member of the Neuromuscular Biomechanics Laboratory at the University of Iowa.
A2CPS in top 10!
As of July 2024, A2CPS was ranked #9 amongst the largest brain-imaging studies ever undertaken to date!
A2CPS Receives the Golden Neuron Award
The Acute to Chronic Pain Signatures (A2CPS) Consortium was honored with the Golden Neuron Award for “Best Inclusion of People with Lived Experience” at the 2024 PURPOSE annual meeting. The CTSDMC serves as the Clinical Coordinating Center for A2CPS, co-PIs Christopher Coffey, Kathleen Sluka, and Laura Frey-Law. The A2CPS patient participants, Errol Patterson (pictured) and Dawn Bowles, have been invaluable in design and implementation of the A2CPS project which is projected to end enrollment in 2025.
A2CPS Study Team
A2CPS: Who Are We and What Are We Doing?
For more A2CPS Informational recordings, including journal clubs and consortium semi-annual meetings, or to follow A2CPS on Vimeo, follow the link.