2025 Midbrains and CBBRe Symposium

Edgar (Terry) Walters, PhD

Professor
Fondren Chair in Cellular Signaling 

Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology
McGovern Medical School
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Talk Title: Evolutionary clues about the functions, mechanisms, and treatment of persistent pain

Bio: Edgar (Terry) Walters received his Ph.D. in Physiology from Columbia University in 1980. In 1982 he became a faculty member at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston (now McGovern Medical School), where he is currently Professor of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology and holder of the Fondren Chair in Cellular Signaling.  His early research was on neuronal (especially nociceptor) and behavioral plasticity related to tissue and nerve injury in invertebrate species (the gastropod Aplysia, a squid, the moth larva Manduca). He discovered unexpected mechanistic overlap and potential evolutionary links between ancient adaptive responses to injury and the basic neural plasticity processes known now to underlie learning and memory as well as persistent pain in mammals. More recent research has been on the large contributions of nociceptor plasticity to acute and chronic pain in mammals, including pain induced by spinal cord injury, surgical procedures, or chemotherapy. Current emphases are on the functions and targetable mechanisms (including complex excitability alterations and the underlying ion channels and cell signaling pathways) that drive spontaneous electrical activity in mouse, rat, and human nociceptors, thereby persistently promoting pain after significant injuries and in various chronic conditions. A continuing theme is how an evolutionary perspective can inform our understanding and therapeutic targeting of persistent pain and its comorbidities.

Beth Darnall, PhD

Professor
Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Stanford University School of Medicine
Director, Stanford Pain Relief Innovations Lab

Talk Title: Enhancing access to pain relief: Innovative patient-centered formats, technologies, and trial designs

Bio: Beth Darnall, PhD is a psychologist-scientist innovator at Stanford University School of Medicine.

She created a 1-session intervention that rapidly equips people with effective pain relief skills for acute, chronic, and post-surgical pain; it’s available in 29 countries and 8 languages.

She has three times briefed the U.S. Congress and the FDA on patient-centered pain care and opioid stewardship. She is a scientific member of the NIH Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee, served on the CDC Opioid Workgroup (2021), is Chief Science Advisor for AppliedVR, and is author of four books for patients and clinicians

Website: https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/beth-darnall 

Kory Zimney, PT, DPT, PhD
Associate Dean & Professor
Department of Physical Therapy
Health Sciences
University of South Dakota

Talk Title: Cortical reorganization and tactile acuity changes in people with chronic pain

Bio: Dr. Kory Zimney is the Associate Dean of Health Sciences and a Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of South Dakota, where he also directs the PhD in Health Sciences program. With over 30 years of experience in physical therapy, Dr. Zimney’s teaching, research, and clinical practice focus on pain neuroscience, therapeutic alliance, and evidence-based approaches for orthopedic injuries. He is a Senior Faculty member with Evidence in Motion and an active researcher with the USD Center for Brain and Behavior Research and the Therapeutic Neuroscience Research Group. Dr. Zimney has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and contributed to multiple textbooks in pain science and physical therapy. He has played a key role in developing advanced pain education programs for patients, clinicians, and students.

Emily Kabeiseman, MSc

Research Associate

Biomedical and Translational Sciences

Sanford School of Medicine

University of South Dakota

Talk Title: Identification and characterization of the enzymes involved in endocannabinoid synthesis and metabolism in Hirudo verbana. 

Bio: Emily earned her B.A. in Chemistry and Biology from Mount Marty College and her M.S. in Basic Biomedical Sciences from the University of South Dakota. She has been a Research Associate with the University of South Dakota’s Sanford School of Medicine for more than 20 years, where she has contributed to diverse areas of biomedical research, including bacterial pathogenesis, host-pathogen interactions and molecular neuroscience.   

Brian Burrell, PhD

Professor
Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences
University of South Dakota
Sanford School of Medicine

Talk Title: The cannabinoid system: a double agent in treating pain

Bio: The Burrell Laboratory is interested in how nociception (the sensory component of pain) is modulated by a class of lipid neurotransmitters known as endocannabinoids. Although the activation of the endocannabinoid system is generally thought to be analgesic, it is clear both from our research and research from other labs that endocannabinoids can have both anti-nociceptive and pro-nociceptive effects. In our studies, endocannabinoids depress nociceptive synapses (an anti-nociceptive effect) and but disinhibit/potentiate non-nociceptive synapses (a pro-nociceptive effect). Furthermore specific patterns of somatosensory activity can selectively elicit either endocannabinoid-mediated depression or potentiation. Currently the lab is focusing on how the nervous system normally decodes this activity to produce the anti- vs. pro-nociceptive effects of endocannabinoids. Understanding endocannabinoid modulation of nociception at this level of detail may lead to better cannabinoid-based therapies to treat pain.