New ERA-NET NEURON grant to investigate the microbiome–pain connection

We are delighted to announce that Joel Selkrig has been awarded funding as part of the international ERA-NET NEURON project SUSEBERI, a collaborative research initiative investigating the mechanisms underlying chronic pain.

SUSEBERI (Microbiota and microglia interactions in neonatal/juvenile insults induced chronic pain: A translational approach) brings together researchers from Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Romania to understand why injury or stress early in life can increase susceptibility to chronic pain later in adulthood.

The project will explore whether early-life insults cause persistent changes to the gut microbiome and how these changes influence immune and neuronal pathways involved in pain. By combining microbiome profiling, experimental models, microbiota transfer studies and patient cohorts, the consortium aims to identify microbial signatures and mechanisms that contribute to long-term pain susceptibility.

In Aachen, the Selkrig Lab of Host–Microbe Interactomics will focus on defining the microbiome changes associated with chronic pain and identifying microbial factors that may influence communication along the gut–immune–nervous system axis.

Ultimately, SUSEBERI aims to uncover new microbial biomarkers and mechanisms that could provide a foundation for more targeted and personalised approaches to chronic pain.

The project is funded through the ERA-NET NEURON 2025 Joint Transnational Call on “Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Neuroscience of Pain.”

https://www.neuron-eranet.eu/projects/SUSEBERI/