dr. lawrence thaiback from the national institutes of health. he serves as the director of the national institute and coleads the pain consortium. thank you for your service at nih and your statement will be made a part of the record in its entirety. if you could sum it up several minutes or so i'd appreciate it. thank you very much. by the way, i ask to have the record left open by opening remarks by those senators who may be coming in later. please proceed. >> mr. chairman, thank you. thank you for the opportunity to testify about pain. one of the most important public health problems facing our nation. i will highlight what the nih is doing in partnership with other federal agencies to advance pain research and treatment and i also hope to convey some of the promising opportunities that science offers to overcome the challenges of preventing and treating chronic pain. pain can provide useful information warning our bodies of potential damage. however, chronic pain can be debilitati debilitating, like arthritis or canner. this is not only a cu