MORE NEWS
Recent Publications:
Ro, JY, Lee, JS, Zhang, Y. Activation of TRPV1 and TRPA1 leads to muscle nociception and mechanical hyperalgesia. Pain 144 (2009) 270-277.
Veldhuijzen DS, Nemenov MI, Keaser M, Zhuo J, Gullapalli RP, Greenspan JD. Differential brain activation associated with laser-evoked burning and pricking pain: An event-related fMRI study. Pain. 141:104-113, 2009.
Buenaver, L. and Grace, E. Impact of common temporomandibular co-morbidities on sleep quality and orofacial pain. In Sleep Medicine for Dentists: a Practical Overview, Editors: Lavigne, G., Cistulli, P., and Smith, M., Hanover Park, Illinois; Quintessence Press, 2009, Chapter 22.
Capra, N.F. and Ro, J.Y. Human and animal experimental models of acute and chronic muscle pain: intramuscular algesic injection. Pain topical review in Press (2009).
Veldhuijzen, D.S. and Greenspan, J.D. Functional brain imaging of peripheral neuropathic pain. In: M. Dobretsov and J-M. Zhang (eds.), Mechanisms of Pain in Peripheral Neuropathy, Kerala (India): Research Signpost, pp.109-128, 2009.
H.C. Lawson, S Ohara, JD Greenspan, RC Coghill, FA Lenz. Neurophysiology of cingulate pain responses and neurosurgical pain interventions. In: B.A. Vogt (ed), Cingulate Neurobiology & Disease Series. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 401-417, 2009.
Dr. Richard L. Wynn, lead author and senior editor of the Drug Information Handbook for Dentistry, published the 15th edition of the handbook in July 2009. The handbook is a chairside drug reference text coauthored by Dr. Tim Meiller, Professor of Oral Medicine and Dr. Harold Crossley, Professor Emeritus, both of the University of Maryland Dental School. According to the publisher, Lexi-Comp Inc., the text has sold over 425,000 copies since its inception 15 years ago. It is the adopted clinical drug reference in over 45 US dental schools and 8 Canadian Dental Schools. It currently is used by over 80,000 dental practices throughout the US and Canada. It is the adopted drug reference by numerous dental hygiene programs throughout the US and Canada.
Grant Awards:
NIH T32 Training Grant (5 years - $709,247)
The UMB Dental School was one of two dental schools in the country to receive funding from the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institutes of Health to for a combined DDS-Masters degree program. The Dual Degree Scholars Program for Clinical Oral Health Research Training (DDS-COHRT) will offer dental students training in clinical research or public health by partnering with the UMB masters programs in clinical research (MSCR) and public health (MPH) through the UMB Graduate School and School of Medicine. Elective coursework for the MPH degree is also offered through the University of Maryland College Park’s School of Public Health. Dental students participating in the program will graduate with both degrees in five years. The program also offers a unique senior year clinical experience in the General Practice Simulation and Advanced Education in General Dentistry clinics.
Eli Lilly award ($144,000)
In March 2009, Drs. Ronald Dubner and Guang Bai received a grant award from Eli Lilly and Company to “identify genes specific to persistent pain in animal models”.
NIH Subcontract with University of Pittsburgh (5 year subcontract - $89,697 first year)
Effective April 1, 2009, investigators Dr. Norman Capra from the UMB Dental School, Dr. Michael Gold, PI, from the University of Pittsburgh, et al. will partner to study the Mechanisms and Treatment of Dental Pain. Treatment of severe dental pain often requires root canal therapy or tooth extraction. Although significant technical improvements have reduced the scope of the problem, obtaining adequate anesthesia of inflamed tooth pulp remains a challenge. Failure to obtain profound anesthesia, with local anesthetics (LA) is observed in as many as 18% of patients undergoing root canal therapy. These patients must withstand intense pain for the duration of the procedures and perhaps long-term deleterious effects directly related to the prolonged pain. Although a number of explanations for local anesthetic failure have been proposed, none fully account for the nature and extent of LA failure observed in the presence of painful irreversible pulpitis. This research project will test a novel hypothesis that LA failure is due to a change in the composition of voltage-gated Na+ channel (VGSC) subunits along the axons of pulpal afferents. A multidisciplinary approach will be used to test this hypothesis. Dr. Michael Gold (project PI) will exam identified tooth pulp neurons in vitro to determine whether neurons that innervate inflamed teeth in the rat are less sensitive to LA and whether the loss of efficacy reflects a change in the biophysical properties, relative density and/or pattern of expression of VGSC subunits in pulpal afferents. Dr. Sharon Gordon will study human teeth to determine whether there is an association between pulpal inflammation, a decrease in LA sensitivity and changes in the relative density of VGSC subunits. To establish a causal relationship between the in vitro observations and results from human studies. Dr. Capra will utilize an animal model to show that LA is less effective in silencing inflamed pulpal nerves. Tooth pulp evoked potentials will be recorded from central processes of normal and inflamed pulp afferents. Molecular genetics experiments will be performed that will directly test the effects of altering the expression of specific VGSC subunits on LA efficacy. Results from these experiments may not only enable identification of ways to make root canal treatment a more tolerable procedure, but may yield novel therapeutic interventions for the treatment of pain associated with both chronic inflammation and nerve injury.
NIH/NCI RO1 - Predicting Speech Quality After Tongue Cancer Surgery
(5 years - $2,760,296 total award)
The Departments of Neural and Pain Sciences and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery are conducting a study to determine what factors affect the success of speech recovery following the removal of part of the tongue due to oral cancer. The study will also involve tongue cancer patients from Johns Hopkins Hospital and Greater Baltimore Medical Center. The study is interested in quantifying the effects of a large number of factors on speech, including surgical closure procedure, resection size, patient coping skills, and speech therapy, among others. The study primarily uses diffusion tensor and tagged MRI to associate the physical changes in tongue anatomy and motion, as well as the vocal tract shape, with successful and failed speech compensation strategies.
NIH R01 - Neurochemical Mechanisms of Visceral Pain
(5 years - $1,640,625 total award)
Dr. Richard Traub, Associate Professor, was awarded a five-year grant to look at the role of gonadal hormones in the modulation of visceral pain.
NIH/NIDCR K08 - Role of TRP Channels in Pulpitis-Induced Thermal Hyperalgesia
(3 years - $382,461 total award)
Dr. Man-Kyo Chung, Assistant Professor, was awarded a three-year grant to fund his tooth pulp research studies.
Invitations:
Dr. Richard Traub was invited to speak at the next meeting of the Organization of Study of Sex Differences.
Dr. Maureen Stone was invited to give a short course on Acoustic Imaging Appliations: Seismic, Underwater, Biomedical, and Speech on October 25-26, 2009. This short course will be taught by a team of instructors who cover a wide range of expertise in acoustic imaging. Dr. Max Deffenbaugh is a research geophysicist with ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company, Annandale, NJ, who works on seismic signal processing and the estimation of rock properties from seismic data. Dr. Jules Jaffe is a Research Oceanographer at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a fellow of the ASA who has worked in the field for 25 years. Dr. Christy Holland is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. She is a fellow of both the ASA and the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, and is currently editor of Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, the official Journal of the World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. Dr. Stone is a Professor at the University of Maryland Dental School and a fellow of the ASA. She has used ultrasound to study normal and pathological tongue motion for almost 30 years.
Dr. Joel Greenspan was invited as a special speaker at the 2009 Annual Pain Meeting of Chinese Society for Anesthesiologist (DSA) and 2009 International Conference on Pain Research and Control (ICP), organized by the CSA and Xuzhou Medical College. The meetings are scheduled in Xuzhou, China, on November 20-22, 2009.