COBRE 1: Administrative Core

In August 2012 UNE received a five-year, $10 million award from the National Institutes of Health to establish the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) focused on the neurobiology of chronic pain and sensory function. The COBRE initiative at UNE builds on existing institutional strengths in neuroscience, pharmacology and medicinal chemistry and seeks to expand biomedical research capacity at the university while accelerating translational discovery toward new therapies.

The COBRE assembles a multidisciplinary core group of UNE neuroscientists, pharmacologists, chemists and clinician-scientists. The center’s mission is to deepen understanding of mechanisms underlying the transition from acute to chronic pain—a major global health, social and economic problem affecting roughly one in three people—and to foster the development of potential clinical drug candidates and other therapeutic approaches.

The award supports career development, mentorship and research support for junior faculty, strengthening UNE’s pipeline of investigators and creating a sustained critical mass of personnel necessary for a competitive research enterprise. Project resources enabled by the COBRE include renovation of laboratory space, acquisition of core behavioral, imaging and histology equipment, and funding for key support personnel. These infrastructure investments are intended to provide the practical foundation for the center’s research programs, enabling basic science investigators to collaborate with medicinal chemistry and clinical researchers.

The COBRE also aims to strengthen UNE’s medicinal chemistry capabilities through collaboration with the College of Pharmacy to explore pathophysiology and develop potential new clinical drug candidates. The Administrative Core’s role is to coordinate center activities, support junior investigators, integrate core facilities and collaborations across UNE colleges and external partners and ensure that discoveries in basic neurobiology translate into therapeutic innovations that may ultimately relieve the burden of chronic pain.