BACPAC is designed to take a comprehensive approach to understanding and treating back pain. This issue of Pain Medicine contains important information on these efforts.

The NIH has awarded $24 million in first-year funding to establish Maternal Health Research Centers of Excellence. Part of NIH’s Implementing a Maternal Health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) initiative, the centers will develop and evaluate innovative approaches to reduce pregnancy-related complications and deaths and promote maternal health equity. The grants are expected to last seven years and total an estimated $168 million, pending the availability of funds.

Dear Colleagues, Many studies have shown that autoimmune diseases disproportionately affect women – nearly 80 percent of those with an autoimmune disease are women. Better understanding these types of health disparities, and identifying ways to mitigate them, is central to the mission of the NIH.