Lee earns prestigious NIH award to advance non-drug knee pain research

Chiyoung Lee, PhD, RN, assistant professor at the College of Nursing, has received a National K12 Clinical Pain Career Development Award. The prestigious award, supported by the National Institutes of Health's Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative and administered by the University of Michigan, will support Lee's research to develop innovative, non-drug, patient-centered approaches for managing knee osteoarthritis pain.

Knee osteoarthritis is a leading cause of chronic pain and disability, often making everyday activities such as walking, climbing stairs, and exercising increasingly difficult. Through her research, Lee is developing technology-enabled, non-drug interventions, including precision brain neuromodulation, to broaden treatment options and improve quality of life for people living with chronic pain.

The NIH HEAL Initiative supports research to improve pain management. Through its nationally competitive K12 Clinical Pain Career Development Award program, early-career investigators receive protected research time, advanced training, and mentorship from leading pain-science experts.

Over the next three years, the award will provide more than $560,000 to support Lee's work, protected research time, mentorship, and dedicated research training opportunities. As part of the career development program, Lee will work closely with her mentor, C. Kent Kwoh, MD, an internationally recognized osteoarthritis researcher at the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

Through this award, Lee will generate preliminary data to pursue independent NIH funding to develop circadian rhythm-informed neuromodulation interventions for the brain that improve pain outcomes in individuals with knee osteoarthritis. Under the guidance of her primary mentor and the NIH K12 leadership team, Lee aims to establish a precision neuromodulation research program that integrates chronobiology, the study of biological rhythms, with noninvasive brain stimulation, an innovative approach that remains largely unexplored in the field.

“Being selected as a K12 Scholar is a tremendous honor,” Lee said. “The program's mission is to cultivate the next generation of pain researchers, and I am proud to contribute to that effort.” The program will enable Lee to collaborate with researchers at the University of Michigan and across the nation while expanding her expertise in pain science and clinical research.

“This achievement holds deep personal and professional significance for me,” Lee said. “Over the years, support from organizations such as the Arthritis Foundation and the United States Association for the Study of Pain helped lay the groundwork for this next step: securing NIH funding.”

Lee credits the College of Nursing with providing the mentorship, infrastructure, and collaborative environment that enabled her to reach this milestone. “The mentorship, infrastructure, and collaborative environment at the College of Nursing helped me grow from an early-career researcher into an NIH-funded researcher,” she said.

“Dr. Lee's selection as a K12 Scholar is a remarkable achievement and a testament to her dedication to advancing pain science through innovative, patient-centered research,” said Sheila Gephart, PhD, RN, FAAN, interim associate dean of Academic and Faculty Affairs. “Her work exemplifies the College of Nursing's commitment to impactful research that improves health outcomes and advances nursing science.”

The award will provide the mentorship, research training, and collaborative experience needed to strengthen Lee's research program and prepare her for future independent NIH funding. Ultimately, the work supported by the award could expand non-drug treatment options and improve the lives of people living with chronic knee osteoarthritis pain.