Encompassing an array of technologies, disciplines and specialties, the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care (IPRC) is exploring the causes of a number of different types of pain, developing new strategies for its prevention, diagnosis and management, and innovative care for patients.

The institute places a special emphasis is on thalamic pain. This type of pain is centred in the thalamus of the brain and may cause sufferers to experience numerous forms of discomfort. Michael DeGroote himself has suffered from a severe form of thalamic pain after experiencing a stroke.