Congratulations to Dr Rutger de Zoete and colleagues for being awarded a highly competitive research grant to investigate the effects of exercise on the brain using MRI and further evaluate the clinical relevance of these effects.
Dr de Zoete will work alongside Professor Michele Sterling (Program Leader, RECOVER Injury Research Centre) and Professor Jeff Coombes from the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences on the project, entitled: ‘The Central Neurobiological Effects of Exercise in Individuals with Chronic Pain’.
Rutger explains, “In healthy people, exercise is known to activate endogenous pain inhibitory processes. However, in people with chronic pain, this is not always the case with some people reporting greater pain and more sensitivity after exercise. It has been proposed that this facilitation of pain may be due to poor endogenous pain control. This grant supports a project aiming to improve the understanding of central mechanisms underlying the effects of exercise in people with chronic pain.”
Professor Michele Sterling continues, “The team has conducted a lot of preliminary work and is hoping for some exciting results.”
The HaBS 2019 Research Collaboration Seeding Grant is designed to promote research collaboration amongst the Schools and Centres of the HaBS Faculty, and conduct preliminary work that will support applications for external funding.
Funding amount awarded: $32,000.
