Uniformed Services University Part of Team Selected to Receive Award from ARPA-H’s Sprint for Women’s Health

Innovative Multi-modal Smart Band-Aid Aims to Transform Pain Assessment in Women

John Volpe, Doctor of Physical Therapy with Naval Branch Memphis, demonstrates trigger point dry needling techniques as Savanah Fuller Bartlett, occupational therapist with Fort Drum MEDDAC, observes during a Defense Health Agency pain management techniques course on July 19, 2024. (U.S. Army photo by Warren W. Wright Jr., Fort Drum MEDDAC Public Affairs)
John Volpe, Doctor of Physical Therapy with Naval Branch Memphis, demonstrates trigger point dry
needling techniques as Savanah Fuller Bartlett, occupational therapist with Fort Drum MEDDAC,
observes during a Defense Health Agency pain management techniques course on July 19, 2024.
(U.S. Army photo by Warren W. Wright Jr., Fort Drum MEDDAC Public Affairs)

October 23, 2024 by Sharon Holland

The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) is part of a team, led by Tufts University, and including Northwestern Medicine, that has been selected by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) as an awardee of the Sprint for Women’s Health. The three universities will collectively receive a $3 million award over two years through the Sprint for Women’s Health spark track for early-stage research efforts, with USU receiving $900,000 of the total award.  The announcement was made October 23, 2024 by ARPA-H.

The multi-site collaborative team, with Principal Investigators Dr. Manish Bhomia from USU, Dr. Sameer Sonkusale from Tufts University and Dr. Steven Cohen from Northwestern Medicine will develop a novel multi-modal smart band-aid for quantification of chronic pain in women. Chronic pain conditions disproportionately affect women, and existing methods for pain assessment are often subjective and inconsistent. The smart band-aid seeks to leverage a combination of biochemical sensing and wearable technology to provide clinicians with an objective, longitudinal view of pain responses. By monitoring multiple cardiorespiratory and biochemical markers, and leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, the team aims to develop an objective scoring system for accurate pain management, while also reducing gender bias in treatment.

Dr. Manish Bhomia serves as one of the three Principal Investigators of a multi-site collaborative team that will develop a novel multi-modal smart band-aid for quantification of chronic pain in women using a newly-awarded Sprint for Women's Health grant from ARPA-H. (Photo by Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine)
Dr. Manish Bhomia serves as one of the three Principal Investigators of a multi-site collaborative team
that will develop a novel multi-modal smart band-aid for quantification of chronic pain in women using
a newly-awarded Sprint for Women's Health grant from ARPA-H. (Photo by Henry M. Jackson
Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine)

“This project is a breakthrough in how we understand and approach pain in women," said Dr. Barbara Knollman-Ritschel, co-investigator and professor of pathology at USU. "By incorporating real-time biochemical and physiological data, we're moving beyond the limitations of subjective pain assessments. This technology has the potential to reshape pain management for women, offering more precise, personalized care and closing critical gaps in how pain is understood and treated."

ARPA-H launched the Sprint for Women’s Health in February, with First Lady Jill Biden announcing the funding as a significant deliverable from the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. The initiative attracted an unprecedented number of submissions, reflecting a national commitment to advancing women's health.

The ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health is conducted in collaboration with the Investor Catalyst Hub of ARPANET-H, the agency’s nationwide health innovation network that connects people, innovators, and institutions to accelerate better health outcomes for everyone. Over the next two years, the collaborative USU-Tufts-Northwestern Medicine team will work closely with an ARPA-H Program Manager and the Investor Catalyst Hub, receiving milestone-based payments aligned with research activities and performance objectives.

“Our goal is to empower women to better understand and communicate their pain experiences,” said Bhomia, senior scientist with the Henry M Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine in support of USU, and assistant professor, USU Department of Pathology.  “This innovative solution not only offers a new way to assess pain but also aims to bridge the gap in current healthcare approaches, making pain management more effective and accessible for women from all backgrounds.”