2023 IARS Mentored Research Award Recipient and Abstract Presenter Interview: Nicholas Gregory, MD, PhD

Widespread Muscle Pain, But Not Paw Inflammation, Reduces Motivation and Active Coping Strategies in Mice

Abstract Presentation:

Mini Oral Presentations E, May 19, 2024, 10:15 am – 10:20 am, Columbia AB, Hyatt Regency Seattle

During medical school, Nicholas Gregory, MD, PhD, became intrigued with neuroscience, specifically how cells, circuits, and action potentials led to more complex things like vision or walking. However, persistent clinical pain truly held his attention and spurred his current research focus. Now an instructor at Stanford University, Dr. Gregory has gone on to investigate peripheral mechanisms that lead to widespread, chronic muscle pain and eventually extending his interests further to important associated symptoms like depression and loss of motivation that exacerbate the negative impact of chronic pain. In 2023, this research was recognized with an IARS Mentored Research Award. On Sunday, May 19, during the 2024 Annual Meeting, presented by IARS and SOCCA, Dr. Gregory will share results from a subset of his larger IMRA project during a Mini Oral Presentation, revealing data that show a particular model of muscle pain has significant effects on mood and motivation, similar to fibromyalgia, which is a major cause of disability due to chronic pain. Below, he shares his research journey to unravel chronic pain, and his future hopes for the impact of this line of study.

1. For this research, you are…

Principal Investigator

2. What drew you to this area of research? 

In medical school, I had a general interest in neuroscience — how cells, circuits, and action potentials led to more complex things like vision or walking, but the persistent clinical problem of pain caught my attention because the experience of pain is so universal, but we have so few tools to treat it effectively once it reaches a certain point.

3. Has it evolved since your initial research project?

My initial work was on peripheral mechanisms that lead to widespread, chronic muscle pain — something like an animal model of fibromyalgia. My more recent work has moved from the periphery to the brain itself, and my interests extend beyond pain to some of the important associated symptoms like depression and loss of motivation, things that amplify the negative impact of chronic pain.

4. What are the goals you most want to accomplish in your work with this research project?

The dream is to find a way to help people struggling with chronic pain feel better and get back to living the life they want. Obviously, that’s a big leap from shining lasers through mouse brains (my current work), but on a more basic level, I’d like to test my hypothesis that muscle pain has unique effects on the central nervous system and if that’s true, whether interrupting these effects may be beneficial for improving pain, mood, and motivation. First in mice and maybe some day in people.

5. What is the potential impact of your research on the field of anesthesia and patient care?

We may find new areas of the brain that contribute to chronic widespread pain as well as connections between brain regions that mediate pain’s negative effects on mood and motivation. Some of these areas may be amenable to novel therapies. Understanding the comparative patterns of activation between pain states may also help us better phenotype painful conditions, which may lead to better alignment between conditions and treatments. There may also be some advances in methodologies for studying the complex patterns of brain activity using light sheet microscopy and the big datasets generated by looking at millions of cells simultaneously.

6. What are the benefits of presenting your research at the IARS Annual Meeting?

IARS is a great meeting. Many bright minds working on the clinical and basic science problems I care most about attend. I appreciate the opportunity to share my ideas with this community and connect with colleagues.

7. How did the 2023 IMRA affect your research and professional trajectory?

It has been absolutely critical for my career. I probably wouldn’t have been able to continue research without it. I don’t think it’s possible to do meaningful basic science without a large chunk of protected time.

8. How is your current research project influenced by your initial 2023 IMRA research project?

This is a subset of my larger IMRA project. These data represent key findings that this particular model of muscle pain has significant effects on mood and motivation, similar to fibromyalgia which is a major cause of disability due to chronic pain.

9. Is there anyone else you wish to acknowledge as part of this research team?

I’m grateful for the amazing colleagues I have in the Malenka and Heifets labs. I am also thankful for my incredible and supportive wife.

10. Outside of your research, what might someone be surprised to learn about you?

I enjoy skateboarding with my dog. He’s getting older but he still enjoys a good ride down the trails near our house.