Speaker: Dr. Michael Hildebrand, Department of Health Sciences, Carleton University

Abstract

The inability to effectively and safely treat chronic pain is one of the major public health challenges facing Canada today. One in five Canadians experiences chronic pain, imposing huge personal and societal costs. The failure to develop new treatments for chronic pain may be partly due to the large divide between mechanistic studies in animal pain models and the jump to direct testing of specific therapeutic candidates in humans.

In this presentation, Dr. Hildebrand will discuss “good” versus “bad” pain, how currently used pain medicines work, and how future pain therapeutics need to be developed to specifically block the “bad” forms of chronic pain. He will then describe ongoing research in his lab investigating how dysfunctional signalling in the spinal cord drives chronic pain in both animal and human tissue models. Through a unique collaboration with a neurosurgeon (Dr. Eve Tsai) at the Ottawa Hospital they are able to test which pathological pain mechanisms are conserved across species. This research has the potential to shed light on the most suitable targets for new therapeutic approaches to treat pain.

About the Science Café Series

Explore science through Carleton University’s popular Science Cafés, held twice a month during the fall and winter terms at the Sunnyside Branch of the Ottawa Public Library at 1049 Bank Street (at Aylmer Ave in Old Ottawa South). Each café begins at 6:30 p.m. with a 20-minute talk by a scientist followed by a 40-minute open question and answer period.
Come and join us for a lively discussion around a scientific issue of the day. Be prepared to be informed, engaged and even amused, as our professors share their scientific discoveries with you. All are welcome!

For more information, please visit our website: www.science.carleton.ca/science-cafe, or contact the Faculty of Science by email at odscience@carleton.ca or by telephone at 613-520-4388.