My research laboratory is in a unique position to investigate and develop treatments for several disease conditions which are of importance to public health. The lab will be able to continue on lines of research related to adaptive pain, chronic pain, and co-morbid conditions. Furthermore, we will develop a line of research in the UTSW Viral Vector Facility to develop gene therapy-based treatments for several psychiatric and neurodevelopmental conditions.
We are currently performing experiments
- to determine the neural processes involved in adaptive pain, pain suppression, and the responses due to the threat of pain; and
- to measure the neurobehavioral and molecular changes that occur because of chronic pain with the ultimate goal of reversing these maladaptations.
These two broad research goals will have smaller focal points including the determination of the neurocircuitry involved in stress-induced analgesia (SIA), measurements of electrophysiological and molecular components of specific neuronal subtypes with acute/chronic pain, and the behavioral evolution of addiction induced by chronic pain.
The ultimate goal of this research will be to increase the understanding of natural endogenous pain suppression, the etiology of chronic pain disease, and the progression to drug and alcohol addiction.