UNIT ORGANISATION

Our main missions are to: i) generate new knowledge to improve the management of pain, which is an international societal and economic burden, causes great suffering and profoundly affects patients’ quality of life; (ii) train future researchers; (iii) value the results of our research; and (iv) inform the society of the progress of our research and disseminate the scientific culture to general public. The scientific aim of our unit is to develop both basic and clinical research on the pathophysiology of pain and hearing. Because of this aim, the three teams developed a reverse translational research strategy, i.e. from bedside to benchside (and backward), to increase the clinical relevance of their basic research. To support such strategy, our unit included basic researchers, clinicians and people with a mixed expertise, able to deal with translational research and thus, bridge the gap between clinical and basic research and collaborate with several clinical departments at the local and national levels. Moreover, collaborative works and exchanges within our unit provided each team with the opportunity to increase its own scientific skills and potentials and therefore improve the quality of the whole unit’s research in the field of the two selected sensory systems, pain and audition.

Teams 1 and 2 developed a basic research on extracephalic and cephalic pain mainly based on clinical observations and, vice versa, performed clinical studies inter alia to validate hypotheses raised from basic results.

Team 1 had three main scientific objectives: (i) improving the benefit/risk ratio of analgesics used in pain treatment, with specific emphasis on morphine and acetaminophen; (ii) improving the pharmacology of neuropathic pain treatments, working both on antidepressants (Does disrupting 5-HT2A receptor-PDZ protein interaction increase their efficacy?) and the role of ion channels; (iii) exploring the mechanisms underlying colonic hypersensitivity and its modulation, especially the contribution of ion channels and microbiota to the irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel diseases.

Team 2’s research was focused on the pathophysiology of trigeminal pain and migraine. Specifically, this team addressed (i) the mechanisms of mechanical allodynia, (ii) the pathophysiology of migraine chronification, (iii) the risk factor for persistent pain and (iv) the validation of new targets for pain treatments.