Pharmacology Seminar Series
When
Where
Presenter Details
Gerald Zamponi, PhD, FRSC, FCAHS, FNAI (USA)
Professor, Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
Senior Associate Dean (Research), Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology
University of Calgary
Event Description
Chronic pain is a debilitating condition for which there are currently few treatment options. During chronic pain states, there are persistent changes in peripheral and central nervous system neuronal circuits that process pain related information. Our laboratory has discovered a key mechanism by which dysregulation of voltage gated T-type calcium channels by deubiquitinase activity is important for aberrant pain signaling in inflammatory and neuropathic conditions, and we are developing novel pain therapies based on our findings. We are also striving to understand how brain connections are altered during neuropathic pain, and we accomplish this by using in vivo optogenetic and chemogenetics approaches, coupled with pain behavioral assessments to map how the brain processes pain related information. Zamponi will speak about these two lines of research in our laboratory.