Demario Overstreet, Ph.D.Demario Overstreet, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, has been awarded substantial funding through the National Institutes of Health for his innovative research program, titled “Contemporary human models of postoperative pain: A biopsychosocial investigation in general surgery.”
The award, totaling over $2 million through 2030, will support Overstreet’s investigation aimed at uncovering the factors that determine patients’ experiences of acute and chronic pain during their healing journeys after surgery. The primary focus of the research is to better understand the transition from acute to chronic pain.
“This research will help us rethink the healing process for patients and explore how pain manifests differently across individuals,” Overstreet said. “It provides an opportunity to develop translational, evidence-based strategies to predict, prevent and treat postoperative pain, ultimately improving the quality of life for the surgical patients we serve.”
Overstreet explicitly investigates factors often undetectable by traditional scans or testing methodologies. His research examines biomarkers of inflammation and pain regulation, employs quantitative sensory testing, integrates psychosocial assessments, and considers social determinants of health that contribute to variations in postoperative pain and recovery.
This marks Overstreet’s fifth major NIH award. He has received continuous support since 2018, including the predoctoral NIH Health Services Research T-32 Service Award (2018-2021). This highly selective program recognizes trainees whose scholarship is poised to shape the nation’s health-related research for generations to come.
A prolific contributor to pain literature, recent scholarship from Overstreet has examined biopsychosocial factors that are associated with complications after colorectal surgery, methodologies of quantitative sensory testing, the potential role of adverse childhood experience and emotion dysregulation in modulating pain, and most notably, inflammatory mediators that underlie the pain experience in idiopathic chronic low-back pain.
Overstreet expresses his gratitude to co-investigators Lily Gutnik, M.D., and Daniel Chu, M.D., for their essential support and clinical expertise, which will be crucial for carrying out this work in mastectomy and colorectal surgery.
“Dr. Overstreet is providing invaluable insights into how we approach pain in the post-operative setting,” said Chu, director of the Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery. “His research is pivotal in helping surgeon-scientists shape the methodologies we use to help patients feel better faster and sustain better surgical outcomes.”