A new forum brings together scientists and students to forge research collaborations within the pain research community throughout St. Louis and the Midwest.
Placing any discipline’s greatest minds in the same room for a forum is not an easy feat. It requires planning, connections, and space for all to converge and share their ideas. Throughout the world, thousands of pain researchers attend international and national conferences, symposiums, and meetings to share their insights and connect with others in the field. But, it is easy to get lost in the shuffle of such big events and never fully appreciate the research that might be happening just a few miles from your own lab.
This challenge became an opportunity, according to Daniela Salvemini, Ph.D., William Beaumont Professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology and director of the Institute for Translational Neuroscience (ITN). Salvemini said she noticed the need for a meeting of neuroscientists studying the ubiquitous phenomenon of pain centered on the St. Louis region in order to form collaborations, focus on the region’s centers of expertise, and increase the rate of pain research throughout the Midwest.
In September 2023, ITN launched the inaugural Saint Louis Translational Pain Research Forum (STL-TPRF), in collaboration with the Washington University Pain Center and the Center for Clinical Pharmacology. The goal for Salvemini and her co-organizers, Robert Gereau IV, Ph.D., vice chair for research at Washington University in St. Louis and director of the Washington University Pain Center, and Amynah Pradhan, Ph.D., director for clinical pharmacology and assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy, was to unify pain researchers from the St. Louis region under one roof. Yet, the vision for the forum extended far beyond physically getting people into the same room. Salvemini said that through the forum, which was attended by more than 100 researchers and students, she hoped to inspire the next generation of skilled pain researchers.
“We are educating the next generation of researchers, clinicians, and educators in basic neuroscience, and we want to provide as many opportunities as we can,” she said.
An Idea Shifts Into Reality
When Salvemini began brainstorming ideas for a scientific forum in St. Louis, she knew she wanted to set up an event that would specifically discuss matters related to translational pain research. In December 2022, she got the ball rolling by initiating conversations with Gereau and Pradhan. These first discussions laid the foundation that would form the first STL-TPRF on Sept. 22–23, 2023, hosted at the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy campus.
“I wanted this to be based in St. Louis to showcase the great work of researchers from different universities in St. Louis that are doing translational pain research and broaden it to bring in other researchers from more institutions within the Midwest,” Salvemini said.
“The forum would showcase the research around pain that we do and provide the opportunity to increase collaborations among researchers," Salvemini said.
As the idea for the forum took hold, Salvemini, Gereau, Pradhan, and their teams immediately went to work executing a plan for a two-day event that would unite leaders in the field of pain research, facilitate the exchange of industry insights, and explore novel approaches to tackle the complex topic of pain management and treatment. But Salvemini knew they needed to act quickly to make it a success. Through their combined efforts and the organization and dedication of their assistants, Emily Helm of SLU and Emma Witzke of Washington University in St. Louis, they were able to pull the forum together in a matter of months.
“We started the [planning] in January 2023 so organizing everything to be ready in September was a big challenge,” Salvemini said. “But, it was amazing how this symposium went. We had 170 people that registered and 170 people that attended.”
Two Full Days of Success
Unifying the brightest minds in pain research requires many phone calls, email communications and online marketing efforts. The STL-TPRF team secured two renowned pain researchers to provide a national perspective on the field.
Walter Koroshetz, M.D., director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NIH - NINDS), served as the keynote speaker, and Vivianne L. Tawfik, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor at Stanford University, led talks that energized the audience and lent credibility to the event and to the St. Louis region’s position on the pain research map. The STL-TPRF also invited speakers from all three partner institutions as well as other researchers from NIH - NINDS, Northwestern University, Indiana University Bloomington and the University of Minnesota.
Salvemini remarked that having all those speakers present at the forum put St. Louis and SLU’s Institute for Translational Neuroscience up at the forefront of this research, and it helps achieve SLU’s overriding mission of increased “research growth within the University.”
“The forum is providing these hubs and the ability to say this is what we are doing in terms of translational research, and it's very powerful,” she said. “Our name counts and gives SLU this kind of prestige that helps increase research growth within the University, and bridges with other institutions like Washington University and the Center of Clinical Pharmacology.”
Highlighting SLU Researchers
The STL-TPRF invited a variety of scientists from across the Midwest and beyond to share their work in pain research. Two SLU researchers were among them.
Aubin Moutal, Ph.D., assistant professor of pharmacology and physiology at the SLU School of Medicine, studies rare autoimmune clinical conditions to identify novel proteins involved in chronic pain. He discussed his research on the painful symptoms of many autoimmune disorders and his discovery of a specific protein involved in autoimmune-driven pain.
Christopher Arnatt, Ph.D., associate professor of pharmacology and physiology and SLU’s Department of Chemistry, has been involved in drug discovery, and his lab focuses on the design, synthesis, and initial evaluation of drug candidates. In his presentation, Arnatt discussed the arm of his research that focuses on the role of a cellular receptor, called GPR138, which sits on the surface of some immune cells and plays a key role in driving inflammation. This protein is integral to the development of neuropathic pain in the human body, and Arnatt is now synthesizing compounds in his lab that specifically target the receptor to potentially block neuropathic pain.
Both Moutal and Arnatt said that the STL-TPRF was highly successful in showcasing current knowledge, sparking collaborations, and stimulating new ideas in pain research.
“Even though we’re living in the same city, we don’t actually meet often,” Moutal said. “It was nice to have this so we could chat with all of the other [researchers] from the other universities, and that is how we start collaborations.”
Arnatt added this forum also could increase the community of researchers working on pain and produce more opportunities for students in and around St. Louis.
“There is a very active recruitment of people working on pain,” Arnatt said. “This meeting will benefit from staying local, but it will grow because the community is growing. We can also give a better platform for students, trainees, and postdocs to present their own work and shine within the community.”
Enriching Student Skills
Neuroscience has captured student interest at SLU since the late 2000s, when a dedicated group of students proposed the creation of a major in neuroscience. It became a formal interdisciplinary degree program in 2014. As interest in neuroscience grew, the institute began offering numerous research opportunities and events, including Neuro Day, which is ITN’s annual research symposium, and the STL-TPRF, for students in the neuroscience program and other degree programs.
“We provide a lot of opportunities for the undergraduate students that are in the undergraduate neuroscience program,” Salvemini said. “Undergraduates can join the labs of principal investigators (PIs) and be exposed to research and be trained in the research that we do in neuroscience and chronic pain.”
The STL-TPRF offered abundant opportunities for students and trainees to both hear from leading lights in the discipline and to showcase their own work in poster presentations during the forum. Students at SLU and other institutions presented 47 posters throughout the event and they displayed neuroscience and pain research findings in a variety of physiological contexts, including migraines, sickle cell pain, diabetes, and obesity-induced pain.
Salvemini explained that giving students the space to present allows them to develop the skills they need to grow before entering their own careers in neuroscience.
“Trainee engagement is at the top of the list,” Salvemini said. “The more we do it, the more engagement we will have and the more of these types of activities and community outreach we will see. When people start taking initiatives, things will happen.”
Ambitions Ahead
As scientists engaged in pain research continue their work, Salvemini and her colleagues are readying for the second STL-TPRF, which is slated to take place in September 2025. Their ambitions for this next iteration are simple — to grow the forum and spread the word throughout the St. Louis region.
“We will definitely have it again in September 2025, and by then, we will have more time to prepare ourselves in terms of the distribution of information,” she said.
The STL-TPRF provides another level of training, information sharing, and community building that can only enliven the field of pain research. But its true impact lies in discoveries to come. Salvemini said she hopes this forum, now and in the future, contributes to successful growth within pain research and benefits the millions of people who are affected by chronic pain.
“Our goal is to help alleviate human suffering,” Salvemini said. “The education that we provide within these teams is all about training the next generation of scientists, educators, and clinicians who will hopefully continue our mission to help end human suffering through the understanding and discovery of novel treatments for pain.”
Story by Mary Pogue, senior copywriter, .
This piece was written for the 2023 SLU Research Institute Annual Impact Report. The Impact Report is printed each spring to celebrate the successes of our researchers from the previous year and share the story of SLU's rise as a preeminent research university. Design, photography, and some writing contributions are made by . View the report.