How to prevent #LowBackPain from becoming chronic? New evidence confirms that early treatments help a little, but none reliably prevent #ChronicPain. What patients need most is reassurance, realistic expectations, and protection from unnecessary care. www.michelecuratolomd.com/post/the-unc...

Studying dorsal root ganglia from patients offers new insights into the biology of chronic neck pain. This short blog explains in plain language our recent study, led by @asta-at.bsky.social in the @tedpricethepainguy.bsky.social lab. #ChronicPain www.michelecuratolomd.com/post/what-dr...

Thanks @nbcnews.com for covering our #SciImmunoloy paper showing the role of IL-10+ monocytes in sex difference in #pain www.nbcnews.com/health/women... #neuroimmunology Original article in comments

An article on a possible explanation why women have on average more prolonged #pain after an #injury than men. www.nbcnews.com/health/women...

New study provides important insights into the cellular architecture underlying human #ChronicPain Led by Sylvanus Toikumo, collaboration with @tedpricethepainguy.bsky.social, our #NIH funded group on neck pain, and others. A blogpost in plain language. www.michelecuratolomd.com/post/the-cel...

Large part of the progress in #pain #research will depend on whether the #NIH #HealInitiative will continue or not. Works like this one will very unlikely lead to benefits for patients if further translational research is not funded. And there is no comparable alternative to the NIH HEAL program.

Congratulations Ted and team. This is going to be fundamental work for understanding pathophysiology and drug discovery.

Progressive neurodegeneration in human dorsal root ganglion from diabetes to painful neuropathy https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.01.16.700028v1

Big new paper from us published yesterday: The synaptic ectokinase VLK triggers the EphB2–NMDAR interaction to drive injury-induced pain www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Led by @hajisciencebaji.bsky.social in my lab and a wonderful collaboration with Matthew Dalva's lab at Tulane

Chronic pain after surgery: why it happens so frequently. #ChronicPain #Surgery www.michelecuratolomd.com/post/why-can...

We are seeking a senior tenured professor in our Department working on affective and/or motivational neuroscience (defined in the ad, but pretty broad). The idea is that this person is going help lead our growth in this area alongside our excellent Centers. jobs.utdallas.edu/postings/30693

Impressive work by Sylvanus Toikumo revealing cell-type-specific genetic architecture of human chronic pain across central and peripheral nervous system. The C2 DRG from our patients with neck pain undergoing surgery at @uwmedicine.bsky.social displayed enrichment of pain-specific genes.

The first publication of our project, which identifies altered gene expressions in the human DRG associated with neck pain. Fantastic collaboration with @tedpricethepainguy.bsky.social lab, Christoph Hofstetter from Neurosurgery, and a stellar team. urldefense.com/v3/__https:/...

A very exciting conference that brings together top scientists, clinicians, and biotech/industry experts to present emerging therapeutic targets for #ChronicPain. Learn more here: ter.li/unar77.

This is incredible and so inspiring on so many levels. This is what science can do.

On #Biomarkers for #ChronicPain: Recent research shows that it not only about biological measures www.michelecuratolomd.com/post/the-int...

This preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... is now accepted for publication in JCI! Heavily revised manuscript with tons of exciting new data should be online soon. Huge congrats to @dianatavf.bsky.social who led this project with incredible creativity and skill, just like she always does!

A short read on how #steroid #injections can help managing #ChronicPain, why they may be ineffective, and a frequently overlooked side effect they cause. www.michelecuratolomd.com/post/steroid...

A motivating quote from @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social: “…You are discovering knowledge and gifting that to humanity for all of posterity. Once you learn something no one can take that away. It is not an object. It is an intellectual currency that will be shared throughout the generations…”

Go check out our new paper on spatial transcriptomics of human sympathetic chain ganglia! Huge thanks @saadyousuf.bsky.social and @tedpricethepainguy.bsky.social for trusting me with this awesome project.

Our study that found associations of cerebrospinal fluid metabolites with #ChronicPain in patients with spinal muscle atrophy #SMA #metabolism #metabolites doi.org/10.1093/pm/p...

The protocol of our multi-omics study in patients with #LowBackPain and #Fibromyalgia. Great collaboration with Daniel Raftery's lab and Darrell Henze at Merck. Aims: to identify molecular pathways potentially involved in these conditions, and identify #biomarkers. dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Exciting new work on #suzetrigine effects on spontaneously active human DRG neurons from patients/donors with a pain history. Short story is that suzetrigine is remarkably effective at blocking spontaneous activity. Collab with Dougherty lab at MDACC!

Suzetrigine (VX-548) exhibits activity-dependent effects on human dorsal root ganglion neurons https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.04.09.648014v1

Asta Arendt-Tranholm, @ish1789.bsky.social and others in our lab and the great team at UW led by @michelecuratolo.bsky.social latest preprint on mechanisms of neck pain in patients undergoing C1/C2 fusion surgery

Remarkable finding by our colleagues at WashU @robgereau.bsky.social and collaborators, stressing how promising is #NIH support to our #PRECISIONPain Center to find mechanisms and effective treatments for #ChronicPain

Discovery of a new class of natural antibiotics with a new mode of action to address antimicrobial resistance, a major unmet need @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Chronic pain in older adults: Previous studies raised concerns about gabapentin + opioids causing death. New research sheds light on this. #ChronicPain #Opioids

A great opportunity to learn about #mechanisms of #pain from the intervertebral disc at #USASP2025. #LowBackPain #ChronicPain #Research @utdpaincenter.bsky.social

Excited to present the result of a fantastic collaborative effort - funded by the National Institutes of Health, including the NIH HEAL Initiative, to develop safer analgesic drugs. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The FDA approval of @vertexpharm.bsky.social #suzetrigine is a groundbreaking development. Hopes for patients with pain, and a lesson to pain researchers. #PainManagement #DrugDevelopment www.michelecuratolomd.com/post/a-new-d...

More terrific writing from @dereklowe.bsky.social on the ongoing saga between DOGE and NIH that is, in my opinion, trying to strangle the greatest biomedical research engine the world has ever known: www.science.org/content/blog...

Our scoping review on the mechanisms of #LowBackPain from the intervertebral disc, focusing only on human studies with pain outcome data, has identified an inflammatory-nociceptive feedback loop. @tedpricethepainguy.bsky.social www.jpain.org/article/S152...

I have been skeptical about the effectiveness of muscle relaxants in chronic pain, but a new study changed by mind. #ChronicPain #Medications www.michelecuratolomd.com/post/muscle-...

Very excited to share our new preprint: "Decreased KCC2 expression in the human spinal dorsal horn associated with chronic pain and long-term opioid use" led by @oliviadavis.bsky.social and Samuel Ferland, a collab between us, Yves De Koninck and Mike Hildebrand labs www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

For those who cannot access the @nytimes.com, here a short summary of the outstanding article on #ChronicPain with contributions from @robgereau.bsky.social and other great colleagues. www.michelecuratolomd.com/news/the-new...

Extremely well written article, highlighting challenges and hopes in #ChronicPain. Grateful for the opportunity to contribute. @uwmedicine.bsky.social

North American Pain School (NAPS) application deadline is fast approaching! There is nothing quite like NAPS. It is a transformative experience, just ask anyone who has attended!

Excellent review from @khannalabuf.bsky.social and his team published in Neurobiology of Pain!

Proud to be part of this exciting study from our fantastic collaborator Prof. Chul-Kyu Park (Gachon University) about how the transcription factors Ascl1 and Lhx6 could help treat diabetic neuropathic pain by modulating GABAergic peripheral neurons. Link: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39741412/

Great paper, happy to have contributed, thanks @jonijsbe.bsky.social for leading!

Gabapentin and pregabalin prescriptions have skyrocketed in the last years. New data challenge their widespread use. #ChronicPain #Pain #Medication www.michelecuratolomd.com/post/gabapen...

New preprint online from our lab on @medrxivpreprint.bsky.social www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1... led by Marisol Mancilla Moreno in my lab in collaboration with Michele Curatolo and Christoph Hofstetter at UW.

Am I the only one who hates being told “Thanks for your patience”?

The biggest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge - Stephen Hawking