KI researcher receives ERC Advanced Grant – for the third time

Patrik Ernfors is Professor of Tissue Biology at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics. The project that has been awarded by the European Research Council (ERC) is called 'Descending control of pain' and will investigate how the experience of pain is affected by our state of mind. 

For example, pain can be relieved temporarily when we are stressed, while other mental states make pain feel worse. Researchers want to understand the underlying mechanisms, which are related to the brain's ability to regulate pain signals from the body.

A new field of research

To receive the ERC Advanced Grant for the third time is a great joy and relief.

"The grant allows us to enter a new field of research and we are full of ideas and exciting questions that we want to find answers to. Without the grant, it would have been very difficult to be able to conduct this line of research at all," says Patrik Ernfors.

The research will contribute to an understanding of chronic pain and how it is affected by different moods.

"There is a great medical need to find new medicines for pain relief. An understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of pain creates opportunities to find new ways to develop pain-relieving drugs, " says Patrik Ernfors.