Member Spotlight
Future Leaders Spotlight: 2016 Recipient
Melanie Noel, PhD, University of Calgary
How/why did you enter the field of pain?
I (serendipitously) fell into pain research after realizing as a psychology undergraduate student I couldn't work with rats. I was a summer research assistant for a developmental psychologist who studied eyewitness testimony in young children—namely, whether children could accurately remember distressing events from a very young age. I spent the summer sitting in an emergency department interviewing children after painful injuries (broken bones, lacerations, animal bites) and going to the homes of children to interview them and elicit their pain narratives years after their injuries. I was hooked and this set the stage for the next decade of my training and now, my early research career as a pediatric pain memory researcher.
Why do you work in pain?
Like most pain researchers, I'm fascinated by pain, the power of our minds, and the social context of this hard-wired, evolutionarily significant, physical threat. I'm fascinated by the notion that pain expression and experience can be socialized through early language-based interactions, and I believe pain problems can be prevented by harnessing the power of parents, language, and developing minds.
How has being a Future Leaders recipient transformed your career?
My Future Leaders grant was my first grant as a private investigator (PI). Getting it is a very positive flashbulb memory for me. It allowed me to launch my first independent research project as a PI, which has transformed into a major part of my research program. It inspired additional projects (a memory intervention and a study on pain narratives and socioemotional development) that diversified my lab and led to international collaborations and several additional grants from provincial, federal, and international funding agencies. It also directly led to the development of a parent-led memory reframing intervention that we are now studying in Australia and Canada in three randomized controlled trials. Simply put, this grant was a catalyst for my early career success and inspiration.
What is your favorite part of your work, and why?
Intellectual freedom; feeding my endless curiosity; collaboration; international travel; mentoring young women (and men) in science; job flexibility; phenomenal, smart, kind, and inspiring colleagues.
What is the biggest challenge you've faced?
Launching an independent research career with three very small children is not without its challenges. Having two fiercely strong and supportive mentors (Christine Chambers and Tonya Palermo) who blazed the trail for young women and mothers in pediatric pain science was critically important in my resilience, persistence, and success.
Rita Allen Foundation Award in Pain Scholar Spotlight: 2017 Recipient
Arkady Khoutorsky, PhD, McGill University
How did you enter the field of pain?
During my PhD and into the beginning of postdoc, I studied different forms of neuronal plasticity associate with learning and memory in Aplysia and mice. My research focused on how regulation of gene expression, especially at the level of control of translation from mRNA to proteins, modulates activity-dependent synaptic functions as well as neuronal excitability. Chronic pain caused by tissue damage or nerve injury is largely mediated by maladaptive plasticity in peripheral and spinal nociceptive circuits. The role of translational control in these processes had just started to emerge. Therefore, I felt that I could use my knowledge in neuronal plasticity and translational control to contribute to this field. I was lucky to pursue my postdoc in the lab of Nahum Sonenberg at McGill University, who provided the freedom and resources to work on this topic, despite that the lab had never worked on pain. My in-depth training in pain was made possible thanks to the support and guidance of several exceptional pain researchers at McGill, but especially Jeff Mogil and Fernando Cervero.
Why do you work in pain?
Chronic pain is a very common health problem, affecting millions of people worldwide; however, we are still lacking a basic understanding of the mechanisms underlying the development of this condition. I feel that there is a unique opportunity to make an important contribution to deciphering these mechanisms. In addition, I am truly enjoying being a part of the pain community, as this is a friendly and supporting group of people with a common goal to advance the field.
How has being a Rita Allen Scholar transformed your career?
Being a Rita Allen Scholar has contributed to my career in a number of ways. First, originally not being from the field of pain, recognition by this prestigious award gave me a lot of confidence and a sense of belonging. I am thrilled to be among recipients of the award, together with many other prominent scientists. This award also provided an essential financial support for a project that was novel and exciting but lacked extensive preliminary data, and therefore, would most likely not be funded by other agencies. Within the last year, we have made substantial progress in this project, which focuses on the role of extracellular matrix in regulation of spinal plasticity. This support was critical for the initial development of the project, allowing us to demonstrate a proof-of-principle and submit a more substantial application to the Canadian Institute of Health Research. In addition, Rita Allen annual meetings provide a platform for interaction with many prominent scientists from different disciplines and career stages, further contributing to my professional development.
What is your favorite part of your work, and why?
I really enjoy the creativity part of the research: being able to come up with novel ideas and ways to test them is truly exciting to me. I am working on innovative projects and testing new directions; and we often obtain unexpected results. I also greatly enjoy helping my students grow and become mature scientists. Following their transformation to creative, knowledgeable, and deep-thinking researchers brings me a lot of satisfaction. Although most of my research focuses on basic mechanisms and is not directly related to patients, I am certain that my work contributes to the understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of chronic pain, and therefore, might have an impact on the development of future therapeutics. This is also an important motivation for my research.
What is the biggest challenge you've faced?
The transition from being a postdoc to private investigator is challenging in many ways. You need to deal with a large number of tasks simultaneously, which can be challenging at times. Obtaining funding is probably the biggest challenge for many young investigators, as we do not have a history of independent research and lack extensive preliminary data and feasibility, which are all essential prerequisite for getting big grants.