Investigator, Full Prof (M) Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Mass General Research Institute

Richard J. Kitz Professor of Anaesthesia Research Harvard Medical School

Anesthetist Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

PhD Medical College of Virginia 1992

MD Suzhou Medical College 1983

acute pain; analgesics opioid; cannabinoid receptor modulators; cannabinoids; cellular mechanisms of neuropathic pain; chronic pain; drug tolerance; hyperalgesia; morphine; neuralgia; neuronal apoptosis; neuropathic pain; opioid tolerance; pain; receptors glucocorticoid; spinal cord

Our research group focuses on studying the neural and molecular mechanisms of pain and opioid tolerance. We are particularly interested in investigating the interaction between pathological pain and paradoxical pain sensitivity resulting from opioid administration. The group also has access to patients with acute and chronic pain on opioid therapy and actively involves in translational pain research in these areas.

The techniques used in the group include behavioral and pharmacological assessment, immunohistochemistry, autoradiographic receptor binding and amino acid reuptake assay, HPLC assay, cell culture, conventional molecular biology techniques, and ELISA.

The following is a list of ongoing projects in the group:

1. Neuronal apoptosis induced by chronic opioid administration;

2. Intracellular mechanisms underlying opioid-induced neuronal apoptosis;

3. Role of central cannabinoid receptors in the cellular mechanisms of neuropathic pain and their signal transduction pathways;

4. Role of the central glutamatergic system in the cellular mechanisms of neuropathic pain and its interaction with the central cannabinoid system;

5. Opioid-induced abnormal pain sensitivity and its cellular mechanisms;

6. Translational pain research with an emphasis on neuropathic pain and opioid tolerance.