The LB3P: Low Back Pain Research Study is a Mechanistic Research Center funded through a U19 award from the National Institutes of Health's HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-Term) Initiative, a strategic effort to combat the opioid epidemic in the United States. The Principal Investigators on the study are PM&R's Dr. Gwen Sowa and Dr. Nam Vo (Dept. of Orthopaedic Surgery).
The LB3P Center is an innovative, multidisciplinary collaboration of investigators at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh. The Center will collect data from three key contributing domains of chronic low back pain: biological, biomechanical, and behavioral. The data will be analyzed to perform in-depth phenotyping of patients with chronic low back pain with the goal of characterizing patients and directing targeted treatments. This is a novel, integrated biopsychosocial approach to combat such a complex and multi-dimensional condition.
From 2020-2024, the LB3P hopes to recruit 1,000 study participants to help with the collection of biological, biomechanical, and behavioral data. Participants will be asked to answer questionnaires, perform functional assessments, and submit to collecting biological samples. Testing and collection will take place at the Physical Therapy - Clinical and Translational Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh. The PT-CTRC is a state-of-the-art facility that will serve as the hub for study participation. Interested persons must be over age 18, experiencing ongoing low back pain for more than 3 months in the last 6 months. Individuals chosen to participate will be compensated for their time.
While the LB3P is a collaboration between multiple University of Pittsburgh centers, the Ferguson Laboratory for Orthopaedic and Spine Research is the administrative home of the study. Visit the study's website to learn more about our personnel, recruitment information, and study results.