NIH Clinical Center's 2007 Medicine for the Public Lecture Series

There are about 500,000 cancer deaths a year. Of those, about 50,000 people die without ever receiving relief from the excruciating pain caused by the disease. This lecture will cover the development of a novel pain therapy that selectively kills pain-causing cells while leaving other neurons intact. This results in permanent pain relief without the debilitating side effects of traditional pain-killing medications. Experiments in the laboratory and in animals have been successful, and testing in humans will begin soon. The speaker will also discuss the basis of pain and the history of pain treatment.

Dr. Michael J. Iadarola investigates the molecular and physiological mechanisms of pain transmission and control. His research has identified the mechanisms governing changes in gene regulation due to persistent pain and clarified the process of pain transmission. He and colleagues discovered a way to permanently remove a pain-sensing neuron. This discovery has formed the basis for a new treatment initiative for intractable pain in advanced cancer patients.

Dr. Iadarola graduated from American University and obtained a Ph.D. in pharmacology from Georgetown University. Postdoctoral studies in neuroscience followed at Duke University.

He first came to NIH in 1982 as a pharmacology research associate in Laboratory of Preclinical Pharmacology, National Institute of Mental Health. He then completed a fellowship at the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, and became a research pharmacologist in the Neural Mechanisms and Tissue Injury Section. He has held his current position since 1996.

Dr. Iadarola has received two NIH Bench-to-Bedside Awards. He has also received two years of research funding through an externally reviewed intramural NIDCR competitive award program. A member of the Society for Neuroscience and the American Pain Society, Dr. Iadarola is active on NIH and external committees and as a reviewer. He has published widely in peer-reviewed journals.

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