The recipients of this year's Louise and Alan Edwards Foundation grants are among Canada's leading researchers on pain. The Louise and Alan Edwards Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of four grants, including the LAEF Grants, Ronald Melzack Fellowship, Edwards PhD Studentship, and Catherine Bushnell Fellowship.
Louise and Alan Edwards Foundation Grants in Chronic Pain Research
- Dr. Alfredo Ribeiro-da-Silva, for his project titled "Investigation of a neuropathic component in osteoarthritis and of possible disease modifying drugs
in an animal model." - Dr. Jordi Perez, for his project titled "Gut microbiome correlates of PTSD and chronic pain in Canadian Armed Forces soldiers."
- Dr. Céline Gélinas and Dr. Marc O. Martel, for their project titled "Incidence and determinants of chronic pain, opioid use and misuse in ICU survivors."
- Dr. Laura Stone, for her project titled "Investigating the molecular basis of discogenic low back pain."
This Research Grants Program aims to stimulate clinical and clinically relevant pain research amongst the McGill University, MUHC, and Montreal communities in
particular, and throughout Quebec in general. The Foundation supports all areas of clinical and basic pain research, but its primary focus is on research that will have an
impact on the clinical care of pain patients. The Foundation hopes that its Research Grants Program will encourage innovative work that will pave the way for more
extensive research programs funded by other sources.
Ronald Melzack Fellowship in Chronic Pain Research
- Dr. Weihua Cai, whose proposed project is titled, “Translational regulation of nociceptors sensitization." Dr. Cai will be conducting her research under the supervision of Dr. Arkady Khoutorsky at the Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain at Montreal’s McGill University. Their hypothesis is that the activation of mTORC1/4E-BP1-dependent translation of specific mRNAs increases nociceptors excitability. This mechanism might mediate the effect of enhanced mTORC1 activity on the development of hypersensitivity in models of chronic pain.
- Dr. Limas, whose proposed project is titled, “Social Modulation of Pain in a Semi-Naturalistic Housing Environment.” Dr. Lima will be conducting his research under the supervision of Dr. Jeffrey Mogil at the Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain at Montreal’s McGill University. They will be investigating the relationship between pain and social behaviour, contributing to the understanding of the social impact of pain. The proposed project aims to investigate the genetics and neurophysiological mechanisms underlying social behaviour in mice and how such social interactions modulate, or are modulated by, pain.
Edwards PhD. Studentships in Pain Research
The objective of these PhD. Studentships is to support the full-time chronic pain research of students at The Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain (AECRP) or any MUHC/McGill University affiliate.
- Ms. Justine Schweizer, supervised by Dr. Philippe Séguela, will be working on the ‘Investigation of gene therapy approaches to induce analgesia in chronic pain conditions.'
- Mr. Don Daniel Ocay, supervised by Dr. Catherine E. Ferland, will be working on the ‘Reference values for the clinical assessment of pain processes in pediatric patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain.'
- Mr. Calvin Wong, supervised by Dr. Arkady Khoutorsky, will be working on ‘The role of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2) in structutral plasticity in chronic pain.'
- Ms. Erika Gentile, supervised by Dr. Mathieu Roy, will be working on the ‘The Effects of Exercise Therapy on The Cognitive Functions of Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain.'
- Ms. Stephanie Mouchbahani-Constance, supervised by Dr. Reza Sharif-Naeini, has specified the goals of her research project to ‘(1) identify the algogen in the [lionfish] venom and [using] it as “bait” to (2) identify its receptor.'
Catherine Bushnell Fellowship in Chronic Pain Research
- Dr. Ballard’s proposed project is titled, “A better understanding of the organizational context and the experiences of clinicians and patients/families following the implementation of an evidence-based pain management intervention in critical care.” Dr. Ballard will be conducting her research under the supervision of Dr. Céline Gélinas at the Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain at Montreal’s McGill University. Their objective is to assess the implementation process of the MPIC-ICU intervention aimed to improve interprofessional pain management practices in critical care for optimal patient outcomes.
- Dr. Pavlov’s proposed project is titled, “Dissecting comorbidity of depression/anxiety and chronic pain: inflammation underpin the functional link.” Dr. Pavlov will be conducting his research under the supervision of Dr. Ji Zhang at the Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain at Montreal’s McGill University. They hypothesize that acute stress induced-chronic depression/anxiety are risk factors for the development of chronic pain. Neuroinflammation and aberrant neuronal plasticity along the pain transmission pathway underpin the functional link.