Description:

The Department of Pharmacology is pleased to present a special seminar by the nominated Julius B. Kahn Visiting Professor.

Dr. Michael Caterina, M.D., Ph.D.,
Solomon H. Snyder Professor
Director, Neurosurgery Pain Research Institute
Co-Director, Biological Chemistry Graduate Program
Professor of Neurological Surgery, Neuroscience, and Biological Chemistry
John Hopkins University of Medicine

The following, is an overview of this seminar, as described by Dr. Caterina:

"My laboratory studies the molecular basis of pain sensation, using a range of in vitro and in vivo approaches. Our focus is on cutaneous mechanisms of pain sensation and the roles of transient receptor potential ion channels in this process. In one project, we have explored the potential role of skin keratinocytes in triggering pain sensation in vivo. In another project, we have been studying the structure-function basis of a phenomenon in which persistent stimulation of TRPV channels results in changes in their ionic selectivity characteristics."