COM Student David Nicholas takes first prize in poster competition at pain association meeting
51品茶 College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) student David Nicholas (鈥22) recently presented his research at the Annual Eastern Pain Association (EPA) Fall Meeting, at New York University (NYU) Langone, New York, New York.
Nicholas won the first-place prize in the poster competition for his research, titled 鈥淪pinal Cord Microglial Phenotypic Changes Following Sciatic Nerve Crush in CD137L KO Mice.鈥
Nicholas鈥 project investigated the potential steps through which CD137L, a co-stimulatory protein involved in immune responses, contributes to the development of pain afflicted onto the nervous system.
Results so far support the theory that the nervous system cell microglia, involved in pain in CD137L protein-depleted mice, show an increased anti-inflammatory response and lesser pain response compared to microglia from CD137L positive mice following peripheral nerve injury.
This study indicates that researchers may want to develop and test medicines that target inflammation status to help address chronic pain.
Nicholas鈥 poster represents his research work under the mentorship of Ling Cao, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, during the spring and summer of 2019. Kinuyo Ohara, D.D.S., Ph.D., visiting scholar from Nihon University鈥檚 School of Dentistry, Tokyo, Japan, also made significant contributions to the research project.
鈥淢y research experiences at both 51品茶and NYU have demonstrated to me the dedication, energy and commitment required for developing new treatment modalities,鈥 stated Nicholas.
Cao鈥檚 on-going research on neuropathic pain is supported by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
Generous support for Nicholas鈥 project was provided through the 51品茶COM Peter Morgane Student Research Fellowship, which is funded by the 51品茶COM Dean鈥檚 Office and the Office of Research and Scholarship.
Winning poster abstracts from the meeting are expected to be published in the Journal of Pain Research.