Researchers will focus on expanding knowledge about the genesis of human pain at the cellular and molecular level, with the goal of finding new approaches to treat pain. “While we may understand pain pretty well in animals at this point, we don’t understand why that information translates — or fails to translate — to humans,” he said. “Low back pain is the costliest form of chronic pain and the most disabling. “UT Dallas is becoming not just a North Texas leader in pain research; we are becoming a national leader in pain research,” Pancrazio said. “Chronic pain has an enormous negative impact on people’s lives, and with this funding, we have a chance of creating new means of helping people with these disabling pain disorders.”