How do pain mechanisms produce our sense of pain, and how do they differ in children, teenagers, and adults? In his lab in the Department of Anesthesia at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Professor Michael Jankowski investigates the pain mechanisms at work over the course of our lives. “We’re…
The moment Elena Gracheva stepped into the lab of Nobel Laureate David Julius, she knew she was in for a ride. “When David saw me, he told me I would be a good candidate to work with snakes,” she says. Having no previous experience with snakes, she was intrigued. “I…
When Reza Sharif-Naeini was in high school, his dad had an inexplicable pain in his heel. Many doctors tried and failed to identify the cause of the pain. Frustrated, his dad visited a woman who prayed over the foot by candlelight. “Do you really believe in this?” Sharif couldn’t help…
Major grants will support seven pioneering early-career biomedical scientists The Rita Allen Foundation has named its 2025 class of Rita Allen Foundation Scholars, celebrating seven early-career leaders in the biomedical sciences whose research holds exceptional promise for revealing new pathways to advance human health. The selected…
A NETWORK OF HOPE Since its inception in 2009, the Rita Allen Foundation Award in Pain has expanded the reach of the Rita Allen Foundation Scholars program, supporting 38 pioneering early-career Pain Scholars. Each year, as we welcome a new class of Scholars, we reflect on the achievements of this growing community of researchers and…
Applications for the 2025 Rita Allen Foundation Scholars Award in Pain are open through December 11, 2024. Since 2009, the Rita Allen Foundation has provided a special award for early-career leaders in basic pain research whose work holds high potential for uncovering new pathways to improve the treatment of chronic…
To help raise awareness of the chronic pain epidemic that impacts the lives of approximately 20 precent of Americans, the Science Philanthropy Alliance and Rita Allen Foundation have collaborated on a new blog post as part of “Pain Awareness Month.” So many big questions regarding pain are unanswered. Elizabeth Christopherson,…
Rita Allen Scholar Stephen L. Hauser (1988) publishes, The Face Laughs While the Brain Cries: The Education of a Doctor, a memoir on the mysteries of the brain and his research to find treatment for multiple sclerosis…
The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology recognize Rita Allen Scholars Hao Wu (2002) and Bruce Stillman (1983) with Bert and Natalie Vallee Award in Biomedical Science and Earl and Thressa Stadtman Distinguished Scientist Award, respectively…
Photo: Courtesy Yuan-Xiang Tao How can we help the ones we love, when we see them suffering? Yuan-Xiang Tao was motivated to dedicate his career to chronic pain research and developing novel therapeutics early in his youth, after watching his father battle liver cancer. Tao’s father passed away in…