Congratulations to Prof. Dr. Thomas Kuner and Collaborators for Winning the BIAL Award in Biomedicine!! We are delighted to announce that Prof. Dr. Thomas Kuner (PI, Project B08) and his team have been awarded the BIAL Award in Biomedicine, along with a €300,000 prize. This prestigious award recognizes their groundbreaking discovery on how healthy nerve cells interact with glioblastoma tumor cells, promoting tumor spread. Press release from the BIAL Foundation: https://bialfoundation.com/com/agregador-noticias/posts/bial-award-in-biomedicine-2023-distinguishes-pioneering-research-in-brain-cancer/ Press release from the Heidelberg University: https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/en/newsroom/high-honour-for-ground-breaking-findings-on-brain-tumours Press release from the Medical faculty, University Hospital Heidelberg:https://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/newsroom/en/award-for-pioneering-findings-on-brain-tumors-
Pain Research Grant 2023 Dr. Zheng Gan (SFB1158 Young Scientist), Institute of Pharmacology at the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg, was awarded the German Pain Research Award in the category, “Basic Research: Experimental Work or Work on Subjects” at the German Pain Congress in October. He was recognized for his work, “Layer-specific pain relief pathways originating from primary motor cortex”. Dr. Martin Löffler (SFB1158 Young Scientist) from the Central Institute of Mental Health won first place in the category, “Clinical research: for studies on patients” with his work “Corticostriatal circuits in the transition to chronic back pain: The predictive role of reward learning”. The two prize winners will each receive €7,000. The prize, which is awarded by the German Pain Society (Deutsche Schmerzgesellschaft e.V.), supports work in the field of application-oriented research and implemented basic research that has made a significant contribution to the interdisciplinary, practice-oriented treatment of acute and chronic pain. The prize is primarily aimed at young scientists from the fields of medicine, psychology and natural sciences. Press release from the University Hospital Heidelberg: English version: (please see the above text) Deutsche Version: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/universit%C3%A4tsklinikum-heidelberg-ukhd_ukhd-universitaeutsklinikumheidelberg-heidelberg-activity-7132673033651019776-ums0?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop Press release from the Central Institute of Mental Health: English version: https://www.zi-mannheim.de/en/institute/news/researchers-at-cimh-honored.html Deutsche Version: https://www.zi-mannheim.de/institut/news-detail/forschende-am-zi-ausgezeichnet.html
Congratulations to our Speaker, Prof. Dr. Rohini Kuner, on being awarded the prestigious Leibniz Prize! The most important research prize in Germany, the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize of the German Research Foundation (DFG) recognizes Prof. Dr. Kuner’s groundbreaking work on the mechanisms underlying chronic pain. Press release from the Medical Faculty, University Hospital Heidelberg: English version: https://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/newsroom/where-does-chronic-pain-come-from/ Deutsche Version: https://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/newsroom/woher-kommen-chronische-schmerzen/ Press release from the University of Heidelberg: English version: https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/en/newsroom/leibniz-preis-fuer-die-neuropharmakologin-rohini-kuner-und-den-altphilologen-jonas-grethlein Deutsche Version: https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/de/newsroom/leibniz-preis-fuer-die-neuropharmakologin-rohini-kuner-und-den-altphilologen-jonas-grethlein Press release from the DFG: English version: https://www.dfg.de/en/service/press/press-releases/2023/pr-23-52 Deutsche Version: https://www.dfg.de/de/service/presse/pressemitteilungen/2023/pressemitteilung-nr-52
Apply by December 10th, 2023 The Heidelberg Pain Consortium (SFB 1158), funded by the DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), encourages the applications for the stipend as personal funding ad personum for the student. This 6-month (40 hours/month) stipend will be provided to support meritorious medical students, with interest particularly in pain research, over the period of their MD thesis in 2024.We can also support master’s student for the period of their master’s thesis. The students will have the opportunity to work in an international scientific environment providing support for developing their career. The SFB 1158 Consortium ‘From nociception to chronic pain: Structure-function properties of neural pathways and their reorganisation’ was established in Heidelberg, Germany in July 2015 and is currently in its third funding period. Nineteen multidisciplinary scientific projects involving forty two groups spanning diverse top-class clinical and basic research institutions make this a remarkably vibrant and comprehensive collaborative centre. Research in this consortium promises to deliver a structural and functional understanding of circuits and networks underlying sensory and affective components of pain and their modulation by circumstances which induce structural reorganization and functional plasticity, including disease states and negative emotions. Optimization or development of new strategies that serve as a basis for therapeutic interventions against chronic pain will be a strong focus. How to apply: The interested candidate has to write a research proposal (maximally 2 pages) and may contact the PI of the project for additional information. The candidate can apply only for one project. The application documents should include the proposal and CV including grades from key exams (for e.g. Abitur and Physikum for MD students). Please send the application documents exclusively to: sfb1158office@pharma.uni-heidelberg.de. The following projects are available: Project (please click on the link in the title to view and download the PDF) Contact 1: Tackling the role of vasopressin in modulation of fear and pain valery.grinevich@zi-mannheim.de quirin.krabichler@zi-mannheim.de 2: Investigating momentary mechanisms and heart rate variability in a sample of patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain: An experience sampling study Ulrich.reininghaus@zi-mannheim.de 3: Effect of neuronal sphingolipid accumulation on mitochondrial mobility and function as contributor to peripheral denervation and pain in Fabry disease ueceyler_n@ukw.de 4: Evaluation of sepsis survivors with chronic intensive care-related pain to develop preventive strategies and treatments beatrice.oehler@med.uni-heidelberg.de 5: Structural alterations in chronic musculoskeletal pain and relationship with affective factors heike.tost@zi-mannheim.de
Congratulations to PD Dr. med. Johann Jende, co-PI in Project A03, on recently winning two awards! The Kurt-Decker-Award (German Society of Neuroradiology) for his work on magnetic resonance neurography in patients with diabetic neuropathy, and The Hans Frankel Postdoctoral Fellow Award (International Spinal Cord Society) for his work on MR-neurography in patients with spinal cord injury. Photo credits: GSN award: ©neuroRAD2023 ISCoS award: PD Dr. med. Johann Jende
Open Phd and Postdoc positions to study Neural Circuits of Pain in Heidelberg and Mannheim, Germany. Please visit our Career Section for more information and to apply.
Congratulations to Prof. Dr. Rolf Detlef-Treede (Co-PI in Projects B09 and S01) who was recently awarded the John J. Bonica Prize at the World Congress of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)! Press release from UMM (University Medical Clinic, Mannheim), in English: Interview from IASP TV (on YouTube), in English: Photo credit: Prof. Dr. Rolf Detlef-Treede
“Layer-specific pain relief pathways originating from primary motor cortex” Newly discovered link: Motor centers in the brain can alleviate chronic pain: Research paper from Heidelberg Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 1158 “From Nociception to Chronic Pain” published in Science Magazine. Press releases from Heidelberg University Hospital: English Version German Version Citation: Layer-specific pain relief pathways originating from primary motor cortex. Science. 2022 Dec 23;378(6626):1336-1343. doi: 10.1126/science.add4391. Epub 2022 Dec 22. PMID: 36548429. Photo credits: Heidelberg University Hospital and Science Magazine
Congratulations to Prof. Dr. Valery Grinevich (Co-PI, Project B02) and his collaborators who have been awarded an ERC Synergy Grant from the European Research Council for their project, “Oxytocin-driven territorial mapping in the mammalian hippocampal formation”! Researchers: Valery Grinevich, Zentralinstitut für Seelische Gesundheit Angela Sirigu, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Dori Derdikman, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology David Omer, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ERC funding: EUR 10 million over 72 months Announcement from the ERC (available only in English) Press release from ZI Mannheim (available only in German):