LONDON - March 16, 2020 - The 20th Annual Pain Therapeutics Conference will convene in London on 11th and 12th May 2020 to explore the current state of pain treatment, including choosing the right preclinical models, over viewing clinical success up to date, highlighting cutting-edge research and evaluating the potential of drug candidates in the pipelines of leading pharmaceuticals.
SMi caught up with conference speaker Stephen Hunt, Professor, UCL, to find out more about his expertise and role in the industry, what he's looking forward to at this year's Pain Therapeutics conference.
Professor Stephen Hunt received his doctorate in Neuroscience from University College London. He has been working with Professor Bazbek Davletov and Dr Maria Maiaru leveraging the neurotoxic properties of the botulinum toxin to specifically silence key pain-processing neurons. He was elected a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2001.
Here is a snapshot of what was discussed:
Can you tell us a little bit about your background in investigating mechanisms of pain?
"I have been studying pain mechanisms -off and on- for the past thirty years both in Cambridge and in London at UCL. My interests initially started with our discovery of rapid molecular changes in the dorsal horn specifically following injury and progressed through a behavioural and molecular analysis of both pain and its co-morbidities such as anxiety and depression."
Botulinum based treatments are emerging as potential pain therapy, how would you describe where this field is at the moment?
"Botox has been used in the clinic for treatment of neuropathic pain and modest reductions in pain scores were seen in some patients. Davletov and others developed a clever method of deconstructing Botulinum toxin and produced an extended molecule that was analgesic but did not paralyse the neuromuscular junction and was safe to synthesise under normal laboratory conditions."
The full interview and conference brochure can be downloaded at http://www.pain-therapeutics.co.uk/pr2
Stephen will be presenting on day two of the conference "Novel Botulinum-Based Constructs for the Long-Term Control of Persistent Pain States in Mice."
For sponsorship enquiries contact Alia Malick on +44 (0)20 7827 6164 or amalick@smi-online.co.uk
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