Members
Co-Chairs
Carin Hagberg, M.D. | Faculty Profile | Department Site
Chief Academic Officer
Professor, Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine
Andrew Shepherd, Ph.D. | Faculty Profile | Laboratory Site
Neuroimmune crosstalk and neuropharmacology
The main goals of our research is to understand how the immune system can modulate the activity of the peripheral nervous system, and how this goes awry in chronic pain states, such as those induced by nerve injury. The peptide hormone angiotensin II plays a key role in macrophage infiltration and activation at sites of injury, mediating neuro-immune crosstalk that underlies diverse chronic pain states.
Members
Salahadin Abdi, M.D., Ph.D. | Faculty Profile | Laboratory Site
Professor and Chair, Pain Medicine
Helen Buchanan & Stanley Joseph Seeger Endowed Research Professor
Clinical Medical Director, Department of Pain Medicine
Patrick Dougherty, Ph.D. | Faculty Profile | Department Site
H.E.B. Professor in Cancer Research, Department of Pain Medicine
Associate Division Head, Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine and Pain Medicine
Andrew Futreal, Ph.D. | Faculty Profile | Laboratory Site
Professor and Chair, Genomic Medicine
Peter Grace, Ph.D. | Faculty Profile | Laboratory Site
Neuroimmunology and pharmacology of chronic pain
The main goals of our research program are to elucidate how immune signaling dysregulates neuronal signaling in the context of chronic pain. One area of focus is how autoimmune signaling after peripheral nerve injury initiates and maintains neuronal hyper excitability. A second area of focus is understanding how cortical and subcortical microglia contribute to affective disturbances in chronic pain states. A third area of research is on the protective role of Nrf2 in neuropathic pain, and discovery of precise approaches to therapeutically activate this antioxidant master-regulator.
Vinay Puduvalli, M.D. | Faculty Profile | Department Site
Professor and Chair, Neuro-Oncology
Beau Biden Endowed Chair in Brain Cancer Research
Co-Director, Brain Tumor Center
Leader, MD Anderson CCSG Cancer Neuroscience Program
Co-Program Director, Cancer Neuroscience Program
Co-Director, NeuroHealth Initiative
Primary brain tumors, translational research in neuro-oncology, experimental therapeutics, tumor resistance, clinical trial design
Jim Ray, Ph.D. | Faculty Profile | Department Site
Director, Neurodegeneration Consortium Platform, Division of Therapeutics Discovery
David Tweardy, M.D. | Faculty Profile | Lab Site
Division Head, Internal Medicine
Professor, Infectious Diseases and Molecular & Cellular Oncology