Saab, Carl, PhD

Dr. Carl Saab is a neuroscientist and pain researcher recognized for his pioneering work in pain biomarker discovery, thalamocortical neurophysiology, and the application of machine learning and quantum computing to objective pain assessment.

He is the founder of the Cleveland Clinic Consortium for Pain — a coalition of 40+ senior clinicians and scientists — and serves as Chief Scientist of the Discovery Accelerator, a 10-year research partnership between Cleveland Clinic and IBM in AI and quantum computing. His work has been featured in Nature, the Wall Street Journal, BBC Future, and Scientific American, and he has served on more than 35 NIH study sections and international grant review panels.

The Cleveland Clinic Consortium for Pain (C3P) includes researchers and clinicians at Cleveland Clinic who share a common interest in pain research and treatment. Members affiliated with Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute and clinical departments, as well as Case Western Reserve University and MetroHealth collaborate in a “team-science approach” to investigate all facets of pain. Together, these partners are focused on developing, testing and validating novel technologies and methods to diagnose and treat chronic pain.

Dr. Saab’s research program spans single-unit electrophysiology, EEG-based machine learning classifiers for pain and neurological conditions, optogenetic dissection of thalamocortical circuits, and the development of automated, objective pain assessment tools for clinical translation.

Research in the Saab lab encompasses hypothesis-driven and data-driven scientific discovery leading to translational research. Guided by the scientific premise that sensory and emotional states are governed by neural circuits, the main goal is to elucidate and map these circuits with unprecedented cellular specificity and temporal resolution, using multidisciplinary research tools such as optogenetics, self-reported behavioral paradigms, and high-density (>200 units) neural recordings in vivo across the spine-brain continuum. Basic science discoveries are then translated to biomedical applications in collaboration with healthcare partners using non-invasive brain imaging and machine learning.

The research is based on emerging scientific findings showing that pain is mediated by brain activity. Therefore, the lab aims to define the brain networks mediating pain and to reduce scientific theory to clinical practice using non-invasive brain imaging and big data analytics, thus enabling accurate classification and assessment of patients with pain, and providing healthcare professionals the opportunity for earlier interventions to prevent long-term pain, disability and opioid use.

Dr. Saab also has led NIH BRAIN Initiative-funded research and industry-funded studies with Boston Scientific, Medtronic, and Asahi Kasei Pharma, and contributed to the landmark NIH Pain Biomarker Task Force consensus statement published in Nature Reviews Neurology (2020).

RESEARCH PROGRAMS

• Pain biomarker discovery and validation using EEG and machine learning
• Thalamocortical circuit dynamics in nociception and chronic pain
• Quantum computing applications for biomarker discovery
• Automated and objective pain intensity and prognosis assessment tools
• Neurophysiology of migraine, sleep, and epilepsy

MAJOR PROJECTS & FUNDING

• NIH BRAIN-Funded Research, multi-PI with co-PIs Borton and Jones; developing behavioral self-report tools for nociception and elucidating thalamocortical circuit dynamics in pain using optogenetics
• NIH-Funded Research, team-science approach to pain biomarker development and validation
• Industry-Funded Research (Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Asahi Kasei Pharma), EEG-based support vector machine classifiers for pain and artifact removal in rodent, canine, and human subjects
• NIH Pain Biomarker Task Force, co-author of consensus statement establishing new guidelines for pain biomarkers (Nature Reviews Neurology, 2020); invited keynote at NIH HEAL conference (2018)

HONORS & RECOGNITION

• Media Coverage: Pain Biomarkers and AI (2 interviews), Nature, 2024
• Media Coverage: How an Objective Measure of Pain Could Counter Bias in Medicine, BBC Future, 2023
• Migraine Innovation Award, Association of Migraine Disorders, 2019
• Media Coverage: A New Prognosis for Pain Care, Wall Street Journal, 2019
• Media Coverage: Taking the Bias out of Pain Diagnosis, Scientific American, 2019
• White House and US Congress Briefing, National Small Business Association, 2014
• Executive Mentorship Program — Ceremony Ambassador Award and Keynote Speaker, Rhode Island Hospital (Lifespan), 2010