Research

Millennium Pain Center is a State-of-the-Art Center of Excellence. Our mission is early phase involvement in the development of clinical and basic research medications and treatment modalities. We are dedicated to providing our patients with a superior standard of care. We have an experienced research staff who follow Good Clinical Practices to ensure the subject’s safety and well being are always are first priority.

Pre-Clinical Research:

Millennium Pain Center supports a pre-clinical research laboratory located on the campus of Illinois State University, Normal, IL. The research primarily focuses on determining the mechanism by which these pain therapies reduce or eliminate pain sensation. Currently research is being actively pursued in the areas of electrical spinal neuromodulation and pain treatment alternatives using pulsed-radiofrequency.

DAVID L. CEDEÑO, Ph.D.

Dr. David L. Cedeño is the Director of Basic Research at the Millennium Pain Center (Bloomington, IL) and an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Illinois State University (Normal, IL). He got his Diploma in Chemistry (B.S. equivalent) at Universidad del Valle and worked as a research and development chemist at Colgate-Palmolive and Lloreda Soaps and Glycerine in Cali, Colombia. He earned his doctorate from Baylor University in 1999 and was a postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern University from 1999 to 2001. He moved to Illinois State University in2001 as an assistant professor and earned tenure and promotion to associate professor in 2007. He has been associated with the Millennium Pain Center since 2012. Dr. Cedeño has authored/coauthored 33 peer-reviewed publications, two patent applications and 57 research and education presentations. Dr. Cedeño’s academic efforts at Illinois State University have been recognized with a Research Initiative Award, the John Dorsey Award for Outstanding Teacher, and the College of Arts and Sciences Awards for Outstanding Teaching and Outstanding Service. His research interests include the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic agents for chronic pain, the development of photodynamic treatment drugs for cutaneous leishmaniasis, and the development of choline inhibitors for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis.

DANA TILLEY, M.S.

Dana Tilley is a Research Associate at the Millennium Pain Center and a PhD student at Illinois State University. He earned his Associate’s Degree in Applied Science from Illinois Central College in 2004. He received dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Chemistry (2006) and Biochemistry/Molecular Biology (2006) from Illinois State University. He then received his Master of Science degree in Chemistry from Illinois State University in 2008. After starting work as a lab technician with the Millennium Pain Center in 2008, Dana went back to enter the PhD program at Illinois State University in the Molecular Cell Biology sequence in 2010. He anticipates graduating in May 2014. His research conducted as a Master’s student was published shortly after graduation in 2008 in the journal Biochemistry for which he was the first author. Since then he has co-published a review article (2010) with additional publications in the works. His research focuses on attaining a better understanding of the mechanism behind chronic pain at the molecular level with the intention of developing novel chronic pain therapies.

COURTNEY KELLEY, B.S.

Courtney Kelley, originally from the suburbs of Chicago, graduated from Illinois State University in 2009 with a B.S. degree in biological science. There she was able to dive into her studies while developing and executing two undergraduate research projects. Courtney has more than two years of professional laboratory experience in the industrial field and has been a lab technician in the basic science research lab since 2012. Her future goals include returning to school to acquire a graduate degree and becoming more involved in the tradition of research vital to the betterment of patients’ lives that makes Millennium Pain Center a leader in the pain management field.

Basic Science Research Funding

Our basic science research group is funded by the Millennium Pain Center, La Marató de TV3 Foundation, and Boston Scientific.

Clinical Research:

Clinical research is primarily focused directly or indirectly improving patient care in a cost-effective manner. MPC participates in Phase II, III, and IV trial studies experience for pharmaceutical, medical device, drug and procedural clinical trials.

MPC conducts clinical trials for the treatment of:

• Low Back Pain
• Opioid-induced constipation
• Chronic Pain of the Trunk and/or Limbs
• Neck Pain
• Osteoarthritis
• Herpetic and post-herpetic neuralgia
• Fibromyalgia
• Diabetic Neuropathy
• Peripheral Neuropathy
• Chronic Pain
• Other chronic pain conditions

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OUR MISSION

"To improve the quality of lives of the individuals with chronic and cancer pain, utilizing compassion and advanced interventional pain management techniques. We offer a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to diagnosing and treating pain."

MILLENNIUM PAIN CENTER

The Millennium Pain Center is the state-of-the-art Center of Excellence offering the highest standard of quality care with the most technologically advanced treatments by implementing practice guidelines derived from "evindence based medicine".