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NUI Galway pain Researchers win prize for best research paper

Dr David Finn of NUI Galway has been awarded the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland’s Doctor Award for best paper published in an indexed journal in 2012 in the Pain/Anaesthesia category. Dr. Finn, lecturer in Pharmacology, Co-Director of the Centre for Pain Research and Leader of the Galway Neuroscience Centre, received the award at a ceremony held the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin.

The first author of the winning paper was Dr Weredeselam Olango who did the work during his PhD under the supervision of Dr Finn and Dr Michelle Roche in Physiology, NUI Galway. The Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland’s Doctor Awards are presented each year to Irish or Irish-based researchers who are judged to have published the best research papers in international, peer-reviewed journals.  

The winning paper confirmed the key role of a midbrain region called the periaqueductal grey in the suppression of pain behaviour by fear (so-called fear-induced analgesia). Fear-induced analgesia was associated with increases in levels of marijuana-like substances known as endocannabinoids in this part of the brain. Furthermore, fear-induced analgesia was prevented by injecting a drug that blocked the receptor at which these endocannabinoids act into the periaqueductal grey.

An increased understanding of the biological mechanisms involved in fear-induced analgesia is important from a fundamental physiological perspective and may also advance the search for new therapeutic approaches to the treatment of pain. 

Dr David Finn, senior author on the paper, said: “We are very pleased that our work has been recognised with this prestigious award. This research which was funded by grants from Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council, advances our fundamental understanding of the neurobiology of pain and may facilitate the identification of new therapeutic targets for the treatment of pain and anxiety disorders.”

Photo:  Prof. Tom Walsh, Editor of the RAMI Doctor Awards, Dr. David Finn, Mr. Bernard Kennedy, Head of Marketing, Mundipharma Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

NUI Galway Researchers win top prizes at irish pain society conference 2012

Researchers from NUI Galway received prestigious prizes for their research posters presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Irish pain Society held at the Radisson Blu hotel Galway on Saturday 20^th October.  Ms Elaine Jennings won first prize and the Pain Research Medal for her research on the impact of stress on pain and associated alterations in the body’s so-called endocannabinoid system.  Dr Bright Okine won third prize for his characterization of the peroxisome proliferator activated receptor signaling system in a genetic model of pain hypersensitivity.  Both researchers work within Pharmacology and Therapeutics and The NCBES Centre for Pain Research at NUI Galway under the supervision of Drs David Finn and Michelle Roche.  The winning research projects were funded by Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology.  Second Prize was won by Susan Murphy from the School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Science, UCD.  The research competition was judged by a panel of international experts who commended the high quality of the research.  NUI Galway’s Centre for Pain Research has an impressive track record in this competition, winning the Pain Research Medal on five occasions in the last six years.  Leading experts on the assessment and management of headache and pain affecting the face and mouth attended the Annual Scientific Meeting.  Coinciding with the Global Year against Headache, the meeting heard about new advances in the diagnosis and treatment of common, but often debilitating conditions such as migraine and less common conditions such as trigeminal neuralgia which is associated with severe facial pain.  Clinical experts and scientists from a range of professional disciplines such as pain medicine, surgery, nursing, physiotherapy and psychology presented their research findings to an audience of scientists and health practitioners.  Drs David Finn and Brian McGuire, Co-Directors of NUI Galway’s Centre for Pain Research and members of the Irish Pain Society’s committee said “We are very pleased that the meeting in Galway was so well-attended.  The quality of the presentations was excellent and we are particularly pleased to see these prizes awarded to researchers at NUI Galway’s Centre for Pain Research’.

NUI Galway researchers win Pain Research Medal

Researchers from NUI Galway had a clean sweep at the 2011 Annual Scientific Meeting of the Irish Pain Society in Dublin, winning all three prizes.  

The top prize, the Pain Research Medal was won by Miriam Raftery from School of Psychology and Centre for Pain Research for her presentation on the economic cost of chronic pain in Ireland arising from the PRIME Study (Prevalence, Impact and Cost of Chronic Non-Cancer Pain in Ireland). 

Dr. Olivia Finnerty won second prize for her study comparing two forms of anaesthetic, epidural and paravertebral blockade, in patients having kidney surgery.  Olivia is based with the Anaesthesia Departments at NUI Galway and Galway University Hospital and is a member of Centre for Pain Research. 

The third prize was awarded to Dr. Haulie Dowd from the Clinical Psychology Programme and Centre for Pain Research for his study in which he evaluated the benefits of a mindfulness cognitive therapy programme, delivered over the internet, for the treatment of chronic pain. 

The research competition was judged by a panel of international experts and the chair of the panel, Dr. Bob Raffa, commended the high quality of the research.  NUI Galway Centre for Pain Research have an impressive track record in this competition – also winning all three prizes last year, and winning the Pain Research Medal on four occasions in the last five years.

Front row L to R: Dr. Olivia Finnerty (Runner-Up), Ms Miriam Raftery (Winner, Pain Research Medal), Dr. Haulie Dowd (Third Prize). Back row L to R: Dr. Brian McGuire (Co-Director, Centre for Pain Research), Dr. Liam Conroy (President, Irish Pain Society).

Major pain research funding success.

Researchers at the Centre for Pain Research received two major research funding awards recently.  Dr. David Finn, Co-Director of Centre for Pain Research and Lecturer in Pharmacology was awarded a grant worth almost €1 million under the Science Foundation Ireland Principal Investigator programme.  The research programme is entitled “The role of the endocannabinoid system in anxiety-induced modulation of pain: sites and mechanisms of action”.  It will employ two postdoctoral researchers and  PhD students on studies that will seek to advance our understanding of the neurobiology of anxiety-pain interactions.  Dr Finn will collaborate with Dr Michelle Roche (Physiology) at NUI, Galway and with colleagues at University College London and at the University of Nottingham on a series of experiments to investigate how the body’s own marijuana-like substances regulate pain during times of stress and anxiety.  Co-morbidity of anxiety and pain disorders is very prevalent and there is evidence that anxiety can both precede the onset of pain and exacerbate existing pain. Increased understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms underpinning the effects of stress on pain is important from a fundamental physiological perspective and could pave the way for identification of new therapeutic targets for pain and anxiety disorders and pain-anxiety co-morbidity.

Dr. Brian McGuire, Co-Director of Centre for Pain Research and Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology was also awarded a grant of over €700,000 under the Health Research Board Interdisciplinary Capacity Enhancement programme, which aims to develop leading Irish health researchers.  The research programme focuses on chronic pain (pain that lasts more than 3 months) and will fund three post-doctoral researchers from psychology, health promotion and health economics for a period of three years.   The research programme will look at a number of important aspects of chronic pain. The first study will examine the problem of chronic pain in young children aged 5-12 years and will aim to find out how many children have chronic pain, how it affects them and their families, and how much it costs in economic terms. In the second study, the researchers will evaluate a pain management programme using cognitive behavioural therapy which is to be delivered over the internet.  The third study will examine how GPs make clinical judgments about treating people with chronic low back pain and will provide information to the GPs to see if this helps them to make better decisions.  The project involves collaborators from the disciplines of general practice, medicine, health promotion, psychology and economics.

Selected research from the CPR features in Public Service review journal

A summary of selected research from the Centre for Pain Research recently featured in Public Service Review: European Science and Technology. Read the full article here

Chronic pain features on the Tubridy Show:

A feature on chronic pain was recently broadcast on the Tubridy Radio show on RTE Radio 1.  Ryan spoke to pain sufferers as well as Dr. Brian McGuire from the CPR about the experience of living with chronic pain.  Listen to the podcast here                                    

Research awards

In November 2009,  Ms Miriam Raftery & Dr. Brian McGuire were awarded 1st prize and the Pain Clinician’s Medal at the Irish Pain Society Annual Scientific Meeting held in Killarney.  Miriam is a researcher working with Dr McGuire in the School of Psychology and the Centre for Pain Research, NUI, Galway.  Miriam received the award for her poster presentation entitled The PRIME study: A National study of the Prevalence, Cost and Impact of Chronic Pain in Ireland.

Congratulations also to Department of Anaesthesia who won 2nd prize for their poster presentation at the European Society of Regional Anaesthetists Annual Congress September 2009.

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