Restoring Joint Health and Function to Reduce Pain (RE-JOIN) 2.0

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) intends to publish a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to refine and map the innervation of joint tissues by sensory neurons that mediate pain sensation. The NOFO aims to expand efforts in clinical pain phenotyping, preclinical modeling, and testing of novel joint-targeted candidates. Key areas of focus include: • Enhancing clinical pain phenotyping with multimodal profiling of new and expanded patient samples • Expanding to new preclinical and New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) in modeling joint disease • Preclinical testing of novel joint-targeted candidates • Focusing on peri-articular tissues in joint pain • Prioritizing secondary analysis of datasets and/or validation of methods and approaches in human samples • Improving data integration by developing/enhancing joint atlases. Investigators with expertise in neurobiology, pain science, data science, orthopedics, and rheumatic disease are encouraged to consider applying for this NOFO.