The research project could shape the future of back pain and arthritis care in Irish health services
Dr Mary O’Keeffe, a physiotherapist and pain researcher at University College Dublin, has been awarded a prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant to lead a project which will explore how disadvantage contributes to back and arthritis pain.
Dr O’Keeffe’s PainSupportLink project will also build new, personalised ways to support those most affected. It has received €1.75 million in funding from the ERC Starting Grant.
“Living with long-term pain is isolating and exhausting. I want to acknowledge the resilience and courage of everyone facing this daily challenge, and thank the people living with pain who gave me their time to share their experiences and challenges,” Dr O’Keeffe said.
“Together, we developed this idea, ensuring the research reflects real needs and lived experiences,” she added.
“I am honoured to receive this ERC grant, which makes it possible to take on this urgent challenge. I want to thank my colleagues, UCD research staff, as well as Enterprise Ireland’s ERC Proposal Preparation Support, which was instrumental in helping me prepare this project.”
Dr O’Keeffe, who also works as a research projects officer for the European Pain Federation, was one of four UCD researchers, and one of eight awardees in Ireland, to receive an ERC Starting Grant.
Almost 480 early-career researchers from across Europe were selected by the ERC, which donated a total of €761 million in funding which helps recipients to launch their own projects, build teams and pursue their most promising ideas.
Dr O’Keeffe said that long-term pain can take over somebody’s whole life, affecting their sleep, mobility, friendships and hobbies.
“That’s why we need treatments that support people beyond the clinic door,” Dr O’Keeffe said.
“Stressful life circumstances – like financial hardship and isolation – may trigger changes in the body’s immune and nervous systems. These systems can then become more primed to produce pain. PainSupportLink will explore how these everyday pressures get under the skin, and test new ways of supporting the people most affected.”
Dr O’Keeffe’s research will be the first project to explore how biology, psychology and social life combine to explain why disadvantage worsens pain, and test new ways to support those most affected .
The project will design a personalised support package that links clinical care with practical, everyday supports in the community. The research will identify who is most affected, refine the package with patient input, test its effectiveness in a clinical trial, and explore how it works at biological, psychological and social levels.
“This project is about connecting medical treatment with real-world support, to give people a fairer chance to live well with less pain,” Dr O’Keeffe explained.
“At the same time, we’ll study the pathways by which this support might work, whether that’s reducing inflammation, reducing nervous system sensitivity, boosting confidence, helping people move more, or providing opportunities to socialise and feel supported.”
If successful, PainSupportLink will provide a new framework for integrating community support into pain care, create fresh scientific insights into long-term conditions, and deliver a scalable model of equitable, people-centred care that could be adapted across health services in Ireland and beyond.