By Michelle Jaffee; Photos by Jackie Hart
Scientists working to develop new, nonaddictive treatments for chronic pain turned out in force Monday at the inaugural UF Pain Research and Integrated Neuroscience Symposium, a day of learning about the latest advancements in the field.
Attended by about 100 faculty members, trainees, students and visiting scholars, the symposium was led by the newly established UF Center for Advanced Pain Therapeutics and Research, known as CAPToR, which is aimed at revealing mechanisms that drive pain and discovering new nonopioid pain relievers.
“This center will serve as a hub where scientists and innovators can come together to explore new frontiers in pain research,” said Rajesh Khanna, Ph.D., director of the center and a UF professor of pharmacology and therapeutics.
“We can all appreciate that pain is one of the most complex, impressive medical problems of our time,” Khanna said, noting that approximately one in four people suffers from chronic pain.
“It afflicts millions of people worldwide,” he said. “And here at the University of Florida, we recognize this, and we are going to address it boldly through innovation, collaboration and cutting-edge research.”
Kicking off the program, Jennifer Bizon, Ph.D., director of the McKnight Brain Institute, said the new center complements the existing strength of UF’s Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence led by Roger Fillingim, Ph.D.
“It’s such an important field, and it’s really exciting to see it starting to synergize and broaden,” Bizon said.
Todd Brusko, Ph.D., assistant dean of basic research for the UF College of Medicine, said the problems to be addressed impact the community at large.
“One of the ways that the College of Medicine organizes big efforts is through team science initiatives like this CAPToR center,” Brusko said. “So, we’re extremely excited about bringing groups together to address these really pertinent problems that are impacting the public.”
Throughout the day, distinguished speakers from UF and peer institutions delved into a wide breadth of topics, ranging from mechanisms of cancer pain and joint pain to bridging veterinary and human medicine for pain management and many more.
Poster award winners were:
- First place: Heather Allen, Ph.D. — “Parabrachial neuropeptide Y Y1 receptor neurons control persistent pain in rodents”
- Second place: Niloofar Ghadirian, Ph.D. — “Targeting CFTR mRNA with small molecules: a structure-based approach for cystic fibrosis”
- Third place: Aida Calderon-Rivera — “Mouse models of non-dystrophic and dystrophic myotonia exhibit nociplastic pain-like behaviors”
Sponsors included the Facial Pain Research Foundation, the MBI, the UF Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence, the UF College of Medicine’s Office of Research and UF Innovate.
