Neuropathic pain research award recipients announced

Kirkland, QC – Pfizer Canada has announced the recipients of their first Neuropathic Pain Research Awards Competition. This grant competition aims to fund and support independent neuropathic pain research in the areas of basic biomedical, clinical and health service and systems sciences.

Seventeen research proposals were reviewed by an independent committee of Canadian medical researchers, chaired by Dr A John Clark, medical director, Calgary Health Region Chronic Pain Centre. Eight proposals were funded based on ranked scores from the independent committee. The company says the recipients represent a diverse group of healthcare professionals and scientists committed to furthering research and understanding of neuropathic pain.

“This awards program recognizes the severity of neuropathic pain as a disease and the important work of some of Canada’s leading researchers who are committed to understanding and learning more about neuropathic pain,” said Dr Clark. “The work they are doing is of tremendous importance to not only Canadian patients but people around the world who suffer from this disease.”

The recipients of the 2007 awards are:

– Catherine Bushnell, PhD, professor, department of dentistry and anesthesiam, McGill Centre for Research on Pain, McGill University. Dr Bushnell’s research will focus on determining the longitudinal changes in brain morphology and function associated with chronic pain in rat models of neuropathic pain.

– Catherine Marie Cahill, MSc, PhD, assistant professor, CRC in chronic pain, department of pharmacology & toxicology, Queen’s University. Dr Cahill’s research will investigate the mechanisms in neuropathic pain models; focussing on the role of NMDA receptor linked intracellular signalling cascades and the role of reactive glia in translocation of pre- and post-synaptic delta opioid receptors.

– Stephan K. W. Schwarz, MD, PhD, FRCPC, assistant professor, department of anesthesiology, pharmacology & therapeutics, University of British Columbia. Dr Schwarz’s research will examine intravenous lidocaine as a tool to identify novel drug targets for post-operative and neuropathic pain control – supraspinal mechanisms and effects on calcium conductances.

– Thuan Dao, DMD, MSc, PhD, FRCDC, associate professor, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto. Dr Dao’s research will evaluate the efficacy of pregabalin in the treatment of orofacial neuropathic pain.

– Hance A. Clarke, MD, MSc, senior anesthesia resident & PhD candidate, department of anesthesia. University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. Dr Clarke’s research will examine the short and long term effects of perioperative pregabalin use on functional rehabilitation, pain outcomes and anxiety following total hip arthroplasty in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

– Serge Marchand, PhD, researcher and professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sherbrooke. Dr Marchand’s work will investigate the antihyperalgesic properties of pregabalin accomplished by provoking wind-up and by recording the spinal (flexion reflex) and cortical (ERPs and pain scales) responses evoked during repetitive sural nerve stimulations.

– James L Henry, PhD, scientific director and professor, Michael G. DeGroote Institute Pain Research & Care, McMaster University. Dr Henry’s first research project will examine the peripheral anti-inflammatory effects of pregabalin – entrance to treatment of comorbid conditions. His second research project will evaluate the early intervention with pregabalin during the initiation phase of an animal model of peripheral neuropathic pain.