Multidisciplinary Approach to Chronic Pelvic Pain(MAPP) Research Network

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announces awards to eight academic research centers to conduct collaborative studies of urologic chronic pelvic pain disorders. The total research investment for the five-year project is estimated to be up to $37.5 million.

The Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Chronic Pelvic Pain (MAPP) Research Network includes six Discovery Sites that will conduct collaborative research studies and will be supported by two Core Sites that will coordinate data collection, analyze tissue samples, and provide technical expertise. The MAPP Network Discovery Sites include: Northwestern University, Chicago; the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of Iowa, Iowa City; the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; the University of Washington, Seattle; and Washington University, St. Louis. Network Core Sites include the University of Colorado, Denver (Tissue and Technology Core) and the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Administrative/Data Coordination Core).

"The launch of this novel research effort is an excellent example of NIH's commitment to encouraging translational research," said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. "It also illustrates NIH's leadership in furthering innovative approaches to discovering effective new therapies to help our patients."

The MAPP Network initiative is unusual in requiring investigators to conduct highly collaborative research of the most common urologic chronic pelvic pain syndromes from a broadened systemic perspective. This is a major shift from earlier organ-specific research on the two most prominent urologic chronic pelvic pain disorders, interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS), and chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). This innovative shift in research focus represented by the MAPP Network initiative is supported by recent epidemiological studies showing that IC/PBS and CP/CPPS are frequently associated with other chronic pain disorders such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and irritable bowel syndrome. These findings suggest the possibility of common underlying disease processes in these chronic disorders.

"The bladder was assumed to be the origin of the IC/PBS symptoms and the prostate was assumed to be the source of CP/CPPS symptoms," explained Leroy M. Nyberg Jr., M.D., Ph.D., one of the NIDDK Project Scientists, along with Chris Mullins, Ph.D. and John Kusek, Ph.D., heading this program. "However, in spite of intense study funded by NIDDK, no organ-specific cause has been identified for either disorder."

The MAPP Network is expected to promote critical new insights into the underlying causes of urologic chronic pelvic pain. Widening the scope of research will be bolstered by the perspectives of funded project leaders not normally involved in urologic pelvic pain studies, but who have expertise in relevant scientific disciplines. This will expand the context of research into IC/PBS and CP/CPPS and will encourage a more comprehensive approach to understanding chronic pelvic pain, as well as potentially associated pain disorders.

The MAPP Network will include a Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) of outside experts and will also receive input from representatives of NIH Institutes with shared interests in urologic and non-urologic chronic pain, in part through the Trans-NIH Pain Group established by the NIDDK in 2007.

For more information on the MAPP Research Network, visit http://www2.niddk.nih.gov/Research/ScientificAreas/Urology/MAPP.