# Medical Marijuana and chronic musculoskeletal pain in older adults: a multi-level, precision medicine analysis

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · 2024 · $405,401

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Medical marijuana is rapidly becoming a popular treatment for chronic pain among older adults despite limited
evidence on its benefits and risks for this vulnerable population. Our research indicates the presence of gene
interaction modules for the pain-endocannabinoid system, and differing pain, psychological, and behavioral
responses to medical marijuana treatment. Additionally, we have shown that measures of allostatic load,
indicating individual health status or whole person health, are more informative than chronic pain severity in
understanding the heterogeneity of health outcomes in individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain.Our
interdisciplinary team has expertise on the key proposed areas including: pain pathology and assessment,
allostatic load, inflammation, machine learning applied to genomics, patient subgroup characterization, and gene
expression analysis.
The overall goal of the study is to delineate multi-level factors contributing to heterogeneous responses to
medical marijuana treatment involving: (a) genetic, through targeted gene expression; (b) sociodemographic and
(c) psychological/behavioral including consideration for comorbidities and medical marijuana treatment regimen
confirmed by blood tests. We will extend the scientific merit of a recently funded prospective cohort study (R01
AG071729-01A) and aim to study the 3-month effects of medical marijuana among older adults with chronic
musculoskeletal pain. A total of 80 patients who are seeking to initiate medical marijuana, and 40 who are not,
will provide additional data at baseline and 3 months.
Importantly, we will study the multi-level individual factors influencing the response to medical marijuana in older
adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain via three Specific Aims: To identify gene modules associated (over- or
under-expression) to medical marijuana treatment and change in chronic pain; AIM 2: To detect associations
between changes in chronic pain severity and changes in allostatic load; AIM 3: To develop a casual,
personalized medicine prediction model that can help identify patients who are more likely to benefit from medical
marijuana treatment. Funding of this project will support a much-needed multi-level analysis of individual factors
contributing to the heterogeneous responses to medical marijuana treatment in adults with chronic
musculoskeletal pain. Findings from this study will provide valuable data on the key genetic, sociodemographic,
psychological/behavioral factors predictive of response to medical marijuana treatment and ultimately inform and
improve patient care through a personalized medicine approach.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11056415
- **Project number:** 1R21AG088603-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Simone Marini
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $405,401
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-30 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11056415

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11056415, Medical Marijuana and chronic musculoskeletal pain in older adults: a multi-level, precision medicine analysis (1R21AG088603-01A1). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/11056415. Licensed CC0.

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