Education & Training

University of Strasbourg, France, PhD, Cellular and Molecular Biology
UCSF, Postdoctoral Training, Neurobiology of Pain and its Control
Columbia University, Postdoctoral Training, Neurophysiology of the Spinal Cord Dorsal Horn

Areas of Interest

Pain and Opioids. Pain is a complex and multidimensional experience with sensory and emotional components. The members of the Scherrer Lab aim to elucidate the mechanisms by which our nervous system generates the different dimensions of pain experience, at the genetic, molecular, cellular, neural circuit, and behavioral levels, using the mouse as a model system. We also seek to resolve the mechanisms of action of opioids and understand how these drugs alter activity in neural circuits to produce analgesia, but also deleterious side effects such as tolerance, addiction and respiratory depression. To this aim, we investigate the functional organization of our endogenous opioid system and the localization, trafficking and signaling properties of opioid receptors in neurons in vivo. Collectively, these studies expand our understanding of pain neurobiology and the mechanisms of action of opioids to develop solutions against chronic pain and the opioid epidemic, by identifying novel non-addictive drug targets to treat pain and strategies to disassociate opioid analgesia from side effects.

Awards & Honors

2017  New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) Robertson Investigator Award

2015  International Narcotics Research Conference (INRC) Young Investigator Award

2014  Rita Allen Foundation / American Pain Society (APS) Scholar Award

2011  NIH/NIDA K99R00 Pathway to Independence Award

2009  International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) Postdoctoral Fellowship