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E-G-G: Opening up new lines of pain research for Joukje Oosterman
When she sent her E-G-G application in 2016, Joukje Oosterman was an assistant professor in the early stages of her scientific career. Today, she is a full-time professor who leads the Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation Psychology department at Radboud University. During the eight years since Joukje’s project won the E-G-G, she has achieved impressive professional progress. “This year, I published a paper that is directly based on my research from the E-G-G,” she says. “And I would not have been able to do this research without that funding.”
Since 2004, the EFIC-Grünenthal-Grant (E-G-G) has awarded almost €1.8 million to more than 70 pain research projects in more than 14 countries – with a sharp focus on supporting scientists at the beginning of their careers. “Our winning project looked at patients with chronic fatigue syndrome who also suffer chronic pain,” she says. “We wanted to see if brain functions related to fatigue and pain were independent or intertwined, and to understand how they changed after treatment.”
Research into this specific area of pain science takes specialised skills – and takes a lot of time too. Processes for analysing resting-state functional MRI data are particularly complex. However, the data and findings from Joukje’s E-G-G research are still informing her work today. “The E-G-G enabled me to hire somebody to help process data,” she says. “Now, I am still working on additional research papers and future publications that are closely based on that work.”
Alongside funding for pain research, the E-G-G also provides a wide range of opportunities for early- career scientists to expand their network and develop their professional profile. “It was the total package,” Joukje says. “The E-G-G website and social media channels raise awareness of your research, while you also get to attend the biennial EFIC® Pain in Europe Congress and present your work there. It is an international and widely-recognised programme. That makes it really unique.”
Back in 2016, Joukje’s project focused on an area of pain science that she was only beginning to explore – but the E-G-G jury saw the potential of this new line of research. “Fatigue and pain was quite a new area for me at the time and I had limited experience of that specific field,” she says. “I am so grateful that the E-G-G gave me the opportunity to pursue this project and expand my work.”
In the future, Joukje plans to keep adapting her research projects to explore additional ways of deepening the scientific understanding of pain processes within executive functions of the brain. This might include examining more differentiated treatments and techniques for acute or chronic pain. “The E-G-G helped me to develop my academic career,” she says. “I am thankful for the opportunity it gave me in 2016 and for the further opportunities it is opening up for me – even eight years later.”
“I am so grateful that the E-G-G gave me the opportunity to pursue this project and expand my work.”
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