Share your research with the community! The Current Research on Pain is a forum for trainees to present their research and receive feedback from members of the Pain Center. It is attended all trainees and Pain Center faculty. All are welcome to attend. Students are welcome to take this as a one-credit class (MSNBIO 2682). Meetings are every other Thursday at noon in BST 1495. Each semester, one trainee receives a $100 prize for Best Research Presentation. For more information, contact Becky Seal (rpseal@pitt.edu).
Click the Button Below to Upload the Spring 2024 CROP Schedule Into Your Calendar:
Current Research on Pain Winter 2024 Schedule
Jan 9 Mike Gold (Gold Lab)
Gut microbiome as a cause and therapeutic target for persistent pain, gastrointestinal dysfunction and fatigue following cancer chemotherapy
Jan 23 Marsha Ritter (Albers Lab)
“Lymphocyte Antigen 86: Neuronal expression, Function and Role in neuro-immune communication”
Feb 6 Jeremy Gedeon (Albers Lab)
The Role of Nav1.1 in Trigeminal Nerve Injury
Mar 5 Abby Cui (Ross Lab)
Inhibition of Itch by Counter-Stimuli
Mar 19 Olivia Babyok (Saloman Lab)
Neurogenic Mouse Model of Recurrent Acute Pancreatitis Pain
April 2 Ariel Epouhe (Albers Lab)
Neural and epithelial modulation of the colonic immune response
April 23 Sydney Lamerand (Taylor Lab)
April 30 Raina Roades (Xu Lab)
May 14 Adam Brandner (Taylor/Ferris Lab)
May 28 Talia Adi (Gold Lab)
Current Research on Pain Fall 2023 Schedule
Sept 12 Nicole Scheff (Scheff Lab)
No Pain, No Gain: Optimizing PainFace to Analyze Spontaneous Nociceptive Behavior in a Mouse Model of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Sept 27 Isabel Bleimeister (Ross Lab)
Dissociating the circuitry underlying modulation of different nociceptive and affective pain behaviors.
Oct 10 Emanuel Loeza (Gold Lab)
Effect of dorsal root ganglion stimulation on orthodromic compound action potentials propagated through the ganglia
Oct 24 Matias Preisegger (Gold Lab)
Joint Pain on a Chip: Mechanistic Analysis, Therapeutic Targets, and an
Empirical Strategy for Personalized Pain Management
Nov 7 Andre Martel (Scheff Lab)
Sympathetic and sensory nerve coupling in oral cancer pain
Nov 21 Thanksgiving break
Dec 5 Tayler Sheahan (Soon to be running her own Lab)
Identification of a convergent spinal neuron population that encodes itch
Current Research on Pain Spring 2023 Schedule
Jan 17 Pulkit Grover
Non-invasive modulation of neuronal activity in HUMANS to (potentially) modulate pain
Jan 31 Sam Noh (Seal Lab)
An unexpected player in the circuitry for mechanical allodynia revealed through studies of diabetic neuropathy
Feb 14 Ben Alter
Mechanisms and Translational Applications of Endogenous Pain Modulation
Feb 28 Raina Rhoades (Xu Lab)
Analysis of Mouse Gait for the Investigation of Pain
Mar 14 Alex Lee (Seal Lab)
Investigating function of dorsal column nuclei in colon nociception
Mar 28 Ariel Epouhe (Albers Lab)
The role of neuroimmune and epithelial communication in colonic inflammation
April 18 Jordyn Ting (Weber Lab)
Aα/β Fiber Activity Suppression During Continuous Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation
May 2 Tayler Sheahan (Ross Lab)
Visualizing the spinal coding of itch
May 16 Adam Brandner (Farris/Taylor Labs)
Understanding the mechanisms underlying Chronic Alcohol Withdrawal Induced Pain
May 30 Abby Hellman (Taylor Lab)
The Meeting of Two Labs
June 6 Abby Cui (Ross Lab)
Calcium oscillation in spinal GRPR neurons
Previous Current Research on Pain Presentations
Fall 2022
Aug 30 – Nicole Scheff
MOR Signaling in Oral Cancer: implications of morphine analgesics in cancer immunotherapy treatment
Sept 13 – Sarah Ross
The functional and anatomical characterization of three spinal output pathways
Sept 27- Emanuel Loeza Alcocer (Gold lab)
Modulation of GABA receptors in peripheral nervous system for therapeutic outcomes
Oct 11 – Charlie Warwick (Ross/Koerber lab)
Population imaging of central sensitization
Oct 25 – Paramita Basu (Taylor lab)
Neuropeptide Y2 receptors in sensory neurons tonically suppress nociception and itch, but facilitate post-surgical and neuropathic pain
Nov 8 – Eason Xiao
The role of neuropilin1 in PDAC progression and cancer-related pain
Nov 29 – Talia Adi (Gold lab)
The role of meningeal immune cells in the efficacy of CGRP-based migraine therapies
Dec 13 – Ruby Holland (Ross lab)
KOR-dependent inhibition of genetically and anatomically diverse VTA neurons drives multiple dimensions of opioid withdrawal
Previous Current Research Presentations
Spring 2022
January 11 – Kelly Smith (Ross Lab)
Using Calcium imaging to look at spinal cord networks
January 25 – Brian Williams
Multimodal Perineural Analgesia: Concluding a 15-year Pursuit – and Implications for Total Joint Arthroplasty
February 8 – Nicole Scheff
CGRP signaling in oral cancer progression and tumor-associated inflammation
February 22 – Yanmei Qi (Taylor Lab)
Spinal MOR neurons contribute to nerve injury-induced hypersensitivity
March 29 – Jane Hartung (Gold Lab)
Ion Channels in Human Sensory Neurons: Familiar Faces and Novel Features
April 5 – Jeremy Gedeon (Gold Lab)
Role of Axonal Translation in the Upregulation of Nav1.1 following Nerve Injury
April 19 – Ariel Epouhe (Albers Lab)
A Tale of Two Colons: Neuroimmune and Neuroepithelial Communication
April 26 – Tayler Sheahan (Ross Lab)
Identification of itch spinal neuron networks and their inhibition by kappa opioid signaling
May 10 – Alex Lee (Seal lab)
Anatomical and functional characterization of dorsal column nuclei circuitry including dorsal horn projection neurons that bifurcate to also innervate VPL thalamus
Fall 2021
Sept 7 – Heather Allen (Kolber Lab)
CGRP driven lateralization of pain modulation by the central amygdala
Oct 5 – Emanuel Loeza-Alcocer
GABA treatment decreases visceral pain in a mouse model of colitis
Oct 19 – Sydney Lamerand (Taylor Lab)
Evaluating S1PR1 as a Target for Neuropathic Pain Relief at the Spinal and Supraspinal Levels
Nov 2 – Sept 21 – Haichao Chen (Ross Lab)
The function of two divergent spinal output neurons in nociception and sensorimotor
Nov 16 – Tyler Nelson (Taylor Lab)
Neuropeptide Y Y1 Receptor-expressing Neurons are Drivers of Neuropathic Pain
Nov 30 – Kelly Smith (Ross Lab)
Using calcium imaging to look at spinal cord networks
Dec 7 – Jamie Moy (Gold Lab)
Spring 2021
January 19th – Charlie Warwick (Ross/Koerber Lab)
Cell-type Identification by Ca2+-coupled Activity through Drug Activation (CICADA) in the ex vivo spinal dorsal horn
February 2 – Valerio Tonelli
Deep Phenotyping of Low Back Pain
February 16 – Kim Meerschaert (Davis Lab)
The role of ExPAN to myenteric neuron communication in colon dysmotility following inflammation
March 2nd – Jeremy Gedeon (Gold Lab)
Nerve injury-induced changes in voltage-gated sodium channels in trigeminal and somatic nerves
March 16 – Kristen Smith-Edwards (Davis Lab)
Modeling intercellular interactions that generate rhythmic colonic motor patterns: a biologist’s perspective
March 30 – Kayla Nguyen (Taylor Lab)
Peripheral sensitization and central neuropathic pain in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a mouse model for multiple sclerosis (MS)
April 13 – Ariel Epouhe (Albers Lab)
Sensory Neuron Activity and the Immune Response in the Colon
April 27th – Heather Allen (Kolber Lab)
CGRP Lateralization of the CeA in Bladder Pain- and Beyond?
May 11 – David Ferreira (Seal Lab)
Cholecystokinin-dependent Spinal and Peripheral Circuitry Underlying Persistent Pain
May 25 – Paramita Basu (Taylor Lab)
Sex differences in protein kinase A signaling of the latent postoperative pain sensitization that is masked by kappa opioid receptors in spinal cord
Previous Current Research Schedules
Fall 2020
August 25th – Jami Saloman (Saloman Lab)
Neuro-immune interactions: regulating inflammation, pain, and cancer
Sept 8th – Charles Jonassaint
Redesigning the Pain Assessment Conversation:
How we can leverage human centered design and technology to improve care for pain patients
Sept 22nd – Eileen Nguyen (Ross Lab)
A descending medullary pathway for pain
Oct 6th – Nicole Scheff
Exploring the new field of cancer neurobiology
Oct 20th – Ellyn Dunbar (Whitcomb Lab)
Pain and Genetic Psychiatric Risk in Pancreatitis
Nov 17th – Andy Cooper (Taylor Lab)
The RVM drives hypersensitivity during latent sensitization, and upregulation of NPY in primary afferents is not required for neuropathic pain.
Nov 24th – Pranav Prasoon (Taylor Lab)
Transcriptional Profile of Spinal cord and Dorsal root ganglia in a murine model of latent sensitization: Using Bulk RNA-Seq transcriptome analysis
Dec 1st – Marsha Ritter Jones (Albers Lab)
The function of neuronal derived MD-1
Spring 2020
Jan 14th – Brad Taylor (Taylor Lab)
Long-term activation of spinal opioid analgesia after inflammation
Jan 28th – Keith Vogt
Memory Modulation by Pain and Anesthetics
Feb 4th – Chris Norris (Taylor Lab)
Endocannabinoid Involvement in Latent Sensitization
Feb 11th – Shari Rogal
Pain Management for Patients with Cirrhosis: Pitfalls and Paradigm Shifts
Feb 18th – Kristen Edwards (Davis Lab)
Extrinsic modulation of enteric circuits in colon health and disease
Mar 3rd – Tayler Sheahan (Ross Lab)
NK1R antagonists for the treatment of chronic itch: Where’s the action?
Mar 10th – Manisha Jlamb
When End Stage Renal Disease Complicates the Management of Pain
Mar 17th – Jorge Pineda (Gold Lab)
Ionic Mechanisms of Trigeminal Neuralgia
Mar 24th – PRF Forum
Mar 31st – Jane Hartung (Gold Lab)
CaVeats” between human and rodent voltage gated calcium channels
April 7th – Cynthia Arokiaraj (Seal Lab)
The Cellular and Molecular Architecture of the Macaque Dorsal Horn
April 14th – Charlie Warwick (Ross/Koerber Lab)
Calcium imaging in an ex vivo spinal cord preparation to address important questions in the somatosensory field
April 21st – Ariel Epouhe (Albers Lab)
Investigating Neuro-immune Communication in Colonic Sensory Fibers
April 28th – Heather Allen (Kolber Lab)
CGRP drives central amygdala lateralization in the context of bladder pain
May 5th – Special Webinar: Webinar – Pain: Communicating without Increasing the Hurt with Alan Alda, Ted Price, Alfonso Romero-Sandoval and co-moderators, Greg Carbonetti, and Laura Lindenfeld. Register here: https://mailchi.mp/ritaallen/meet-the-fellows-nov-3124737?e=dde3786ae7
May 12th – Karen Clark (Gold Lab)
The influence of sex and stress on sympathetic regulation of dural neuroimmune activity
May 19th – Tyler Nelson (Taylor Lab)
Uncovering Spinal Neuropeptide Y Receptor Targets for the Control of Neuropathic Pain
May 26th – David Ferreira (Seal Lab)
Identification of Cholecystokinin-dependent Spinal and Peripheral Circuitry Underlying Persistent Pain and Morphine Analgesia
June 9th – Eileen Nguyen (Ross Lab)
Cancelled – return to work!!!
June 23rd – Haichao Chen (Ross Lab)
Spinal-hypothalamus projection neurons
Previous Research Schedule Fall 2019
Sept. 5th – Laura Ellen Ashcraft
Primary Care Provider Perceptions of Evidence-Based Chronic Pain Management
Sept. 19th – Emanuel Loeza-Alcocer (Gold Lab)
Peripherally restricted GABA-A receptor agonists for the treatment of visceral pain
Oct. 3rd – Sarah Najjar (Davis Lab)
The Role of the Colon Epithelium in Visceral Pain
Oct. 17th – Jamie Moy (Gold Lab)
Distribution of functional opioid receptor subtypes in human DRG neurons
Oct. 31st – Andy Cooper (Taylor Lab)
21 days later… the role of the RVM in latent pain sensitization
Nov. 14th – Eileen Nguyen (Ross Lab)
Cellular basis of morphine-induced itch
Dec. 5th – Hailey Bulls ( New faculty)
Navigating Cancer Pain Management During the Opioid Crisis
Previous Current Research Schedule Spring 2019
Jan. 17th – Stephanie Puig (Gutstein Lab)
Peripheral opioid receptors in the development of tolerance
Jan. 24th – Jorge Pineda (Gold Lab)
Ionic mechanisms of trigeminal neuralgia
Feb. 7th – Brian Edwards (Davis Lab)
Sympathetic regulation of colon function
Feb. 21st – David Ferreira (Seal Lab)
Involvement of CCKergic system on mechanical hypersensitivity
March 7th – Jane Hartung (Gold Lab)
Using GCaMP6 for measuring neuronal activity in the trigeminal ganglion
March 21st –Eileen Nguyen (Ross Lab)
Cell-type specific modulation of RVM neurons in nociceptive behaviors
April 25th –Charles Warwick (Koerber/Ross Lab)
Functional categorization of the spinal dorsal horn
May 23rd – Tayler Sheahan (Ross Lab)
Dissecting the role of NK1R spinal neurons in itch
June 6th – Marsha Ritter Jones (Albers Lab)
Nurturin, MrgprD+ neurons and MD-1
June 13th – Diogo Francisco Santos (Taylor Lab)
NMDAR subunits GluN2A, GluN2B and GluN3 drive latent sensitization and the endogenous analgesic synergism between mu opioid and Y1 receptor
Previous Current Research Schedule Fall 2018
Sept. 6th – Jonathan Cohen (Kaplan lab)
TRPV1 Nociceptors are Sufficient for Cutaneous Type-17 Inflammation
Sept. 20th – Jamie Moy (Gold lab)
Activity-dependent nociceptor sensitization
Oct. 4th – Ghanshyan Sinha (Taylor lab)
Dorsal horn neurophysiology of latent pain sensitization and its inhabition by neuropeptide receptors
Oct. 18th – Kim Meerschaert (Davis lab)
Differentiating the role of vagal and spinal afferents in proximal colon nociception
Nov. 1st – Cheryl Hillery
Novel Mechanisms of Pain in Sickle Cell Disease: Insights from Sickle Mice
Nov. 15th – Yan Xu
Manipulating glycine receptor functions to treat pain
Nov. 29th – Jami Saloman (Davis lab)
Neuroimmunology of pancreatic tumorigenesis
Dec. 13th – Junichi Hachisuka (Koerber/Ross lab)
Spinoparabrachial pathway for cold sensation
Previous Current Research Schedule Spring 2018
Jan. 4th – Michael Chiang (Ross lab)
Lateral parabrachial nucleus mediates separable aspects of the nociceptive response
Jan. 18th – Jessie Merlin (Medicine)
Chronic Pain in People Living with HIV: State of the Science
Feb. 15th – Caroline Oppenheimer (Psych)
Associations among social pain, physical pain, and risk for self-injurious behaviors
March 1st – Yehui Zhu (Nursing)
Musculoskeletal Symptoms with Endocrine Therapy for Breast Cancer
March 15th – Lillian Laemmle (Kinchington Lab)
Probing the genetics underlying VZV latency, reactivation, and pain
March 29th – Cynthia Arokiaraj (Seal Lab)
Somatosensory Role of Cholecystokinin in the Non-Human Primate Dorsal Horn
April 12th – Ben Kolber (Duquesne)
Exploration of Exercise Analgesia in Humans
April 26th – Jillian Weeks (Sved Lab)
Modeling nicotine use in chronic pain patients
May 10th – Marsha Ritter-Jones (Albers Lab)
Neurturin, MrgprD-expressing neurons, and immunity
May 24th – Emanuel Loeza (Gold Lab)
Peripheral GABA receptors regulate colonic afferent excitability and visceral nociception
June 7th – Sarah Najjar (Albers Lab)
Epithelial-neuronal signaling in the colon: implications for visceral pain
June 21th – Suzanne Doolan (Taylor/Doolan Lab)
Targeting spinal calcium permeable AMPA receptors in latent central sensitization and chronic pain
Previous Current Research Schedule Fall 2017
Sept. 7th – Stephanie Puig (Gutstein lab)
PDGFR-β signaling mediates Morphine Tolerance in the spinal cord and in the periphery
Sept. 21st – Nam Vo
Intervertebral disc degeneration and associated low back pain
Oct. 5th – Junichi Hachisuka (Ross lab)
Excitatory interneuron network inducing wind-up
Oct. 12th – Ben Alter
Modulating pain through learning and expectation
Oct. 26th – Brain Day
Nov 9th – Jane Hartung (Gold lab)
Stress, traumatic brain injury and headache!
Nov 30th – Marta Pecina
Treatment expectancy modulation of pain and emotion
Dec. 7th – Jorge Pineda (Gold lab)
Mechanisms underlying the therapeutic efficacy of carbamazepine in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia
Dec. 14th – Kristen Smith-Edwards (Davis lab)
Mapping functional connections in the enteric nervous system
Previous Current Research Schedule Spring 2017
Feb. 2nd – Tara Edwards (Kaplan lab)
Are you picking up what I’m putting down? How peripheral neurons detect signals from Candida albicans
Feb. 16th – David Levinthal
A neural basis for mind-body interactions in health and disease: New insights into an old problem
March 2nd – Sarah Najjar (Albers lab)
Optogenetic Investigation of Epithelial-Neuronal Signaling in the Colon
March 16th – Emanuel Loeza (Gold lab)
Modulation of colonic afferent’s excitability by GABA receptors
March 30th – Marsha Ritter Jones
Neurturin in neural-immune communication
April 13th –Nate Glasgow (Urban lab)
Mechanisms of biophysical diversity in olfactory bulb mitral and tufted cells
April 27th – Ben Warner (Kinchington lab)
A growth conditional varicella-zoster virus for study in the rat pain model of postherpetic neuralgia
May 11th – Jami Saloman (Davis lab)
Can NGF sequestration slow pancreatic cancer?
June 8th – Michael Chiang Neural circuits underlying the affective component of pain.
Previous Current Research Schedule Fall 2016
Sept. 1st – Lindsey Snyder (Ross lab)
Kappa opioid signaling in somatosensation
Sept. 15th – Daniel Shiwarski (Puthenveedu lab)
Surface delivery of delta opioid receptors as a strategy to increase antinociceptive efficacy
Sept. 29th – Dave Whitcomb (Whitcomb lab)
Complexity of Pain in Chronic Pancreatitis
Oct. 13th – Qing Liu (Gold lab)
Opioid induced loss of local anesthetic potency in total knee arthroplasty patients
Oct. 27th – Marissa Kuzirian (Ross lab)
Understanding the elusive function of cortical inhibitory projection neurons
Nov. 10th –Annie Liu (Urban lab)
Effect of early odorant exposure on the structure and output of the mammalian olfactory bulb
Nov. 15th – SfN week
Nov. 22nd – Thanksgiving week
Dec. 1st – Maggie Wright (Koerber lab)
Characterization of MrgD-lineal cutaneous afferents
Dec. 15th – Cedric Peirs (Seal lab)
Circuits and Mechanisms for Mechanical Allodynia
Talia Adi wins the Fall 2022 PCPR Prize!!
Yanmei Qi wins the Spring 2022 PCPR Prize!!
(sorry no pics – still COVID19)
Jamie Moy wins the Fall 2021 PCPR Prize!!
(sorry no pics – COVID19)
Tyler Nelson wins the Spring 2020 PCPR Prize!!
Eileen Nguyen wins the Fall 2019 PCPR Prize!!
(sorry no pics – the prize was given at the Holiday party, and well, it was a party)
Jane Hartung wins Spring 2019 PCPR Prize!!
Brian Edwards wins Fall 2018 PCPR Prize!!
Emanuel Loeza wins Spring 2018 PCPR Prize!!
Kristen Smith-Edwards wins Fall 2017 PCPR Prize!!
Sarah Najjar wins Spring 2017 PCPR Prize!!
