PROGRAMME

Arrival of Scholars and Faculty at the Certosa di Pontignano

Registration

Session I

Opening Ceremony - Welcome Addresses

Welcome and Introduction to the European Pain School 2010
Prof. Anna Maria Aloisi, School Director (Siena, Italy)

Welcome by the President of Medical School, University of Siena

IASP, the World Strategy Against Pain
Prof. Gerald F. Gebhart, President of IASP (Pittsburgh, USA)

The FENS/IBRO Neurosciences School Program
Prof. Roberto Caminiti, Chair of the School Committee (Rome, Italy)

Research against pain
Gaby Erkens, Scientific Relations Management Grunenthal GmbH (Aachen, Germany)

Pain a field of science
Prof. Marshall Devor (Jerusalem, Israel)

The Certosa di Pontignano
Prof. Giancarlo Carli (Siena, Italy)

Monasteries, the medieval forerunners of Universities and hospitals
Prof. Manfred Zimmermann (Heidelberg, Germany)

End of Opening Ceremony

Concert & Wine in the Cloister of the Certosa

Scholars and Faculty of the European Pain School are cordially invited to attend an Event organized in the Cloisters by Chianti Classico, the regional winemakers’ association, with wine and classical chamber music. In particular you will experience a variety of the Vin Santo, a white dessert wine from the Chianti region

Dinner

joining Scholars and Faculty, and get some announcements for the following day

Session II

Lecture 1

Introduction to pain: history, suffering and ethical issues
Manfred Zimmermann (Heidelberg, Germany)

Lecture 2

Neuronal excitability and hyperexcitability: cellular mechanisms and genetic determinants
Marshall Devor (Jerusalem, Israel)

Oral Presentations by Scholars

ATP induces release of cathepsin S from primary microglia
Francesca Guida (Naples, Italy)

Spontaneous activity and multiple spikes in C-nociceptors in rat induced by intraplantar injection of Nerve Growth Factor (NGF)
Barbara Cokic (Barcelona, Spain)

Nociceptive behaviour in mutant mouse models related to psychosis: focus on neuregulin-1 and catechol-O-methyltransferase
Jeremy Walsh (Dublin, Ireland)

Session III

Lecture 3

Pain from inside – Translational research on visceral pain
Gerald F. Gebhart (Pittsburgh, USA)

Lecture 4

Strategies for the pharmacotherapy of pain - Does the understanding of pathomechanisms help?
Eija Kalso (Helsinki, Finland)

Oral Presentations by Scholars

Intrathecal blockade of Trk receptors and neurotrophin sequestration reduces referred pain in an animal model of chronic cystitis
Barbara Frias (Porto, Portugal)

Associations between polymorphisms in dopamine neurotransmitter pathway genes and pain response in healthy humans
Roi Treister (Haifa, Israel)

Neuropathic rats have an impaired performance in the reversal steps of an attentional set-shifting task
Hugo Leite-Almeida (Braga, Portugal)

Poster viewing on demand and by appointment, see Wednesday and Friday for details

Evening Session

Behavioral Tests & Tools in Pain Research
A hands-on presentation of equipment for experimental pain research
Lead by Federico Montechiaro, PhD
Ugo Basile Biological Research Apparatus, Comerio, Italy

Session IV

Lecture 5

Insights into the use of opioids and cannabinoids - Benefits and harms in the management of chronic pain
Eija Kalso (Helsinki, Finland)

Lecture 6

Specificity in pain processing: from the nociceptor to the cerebral cortex
Allan I. Basbaum (San Francisco, CA, USA)

Oral Presentations by Scholars

Role of corticotropin-releasing factor and urocortin 1 systems in pain-induced maladaptation and comorbid diseases
Tom Rouwette (Nijmegen, The Netherlands)

The wound healing mediator EGF abolishes PGE2 induced mechanical hyperalgesia
Christine Andres (Berlin, Germany)

High-dose bupivacaine remotely loaded into multivesicular liposomes demonstrates slow drug release without systemic toxic plasma concentrations after subcutaneous administration in humans
Simon Haroutianian (Jerusalem, Isael)

Poster viewing on demand and by appointment

Session V

Lecture 7

Genetic approaches to pain mechanisms and treatment
Michel Pohl (Paris, France)

Lecture 8

Pain studies on humans: insights from functional imaging with MRI and PET
Vania Apkarian (Chicago, IL, USA)

Oral Presentations by Scholars

Susceptibility to chronic pain following nerve injury is genetically controlled by CACNG2
Jonathan Nissenbaum (Jerusalem, Israel)

Belief modulates remifentanil effects on pain-evoked responses: a phfMRI study of hidden versus open opioid administration
Lauren Atlas (New York, NY, USA)

Analgesic and antipyretic properties effects of ethanolic extract of tapinanthus dodoneifolius leaves in rats
Bamidele Owoyele (Ilorin, Nigeria)

Evening Session

Group sessions to prepare “debates” on Thursday morning

Group 1:

Is pain the business of afferent A-fibers or C-fibers?

Group 2:

Does the cerebral cortex play a central role in pain processing?

Session VI

Lecture 9

Molecular biology of neuropathic pain
Allan I. Basbaum (San Francisco, California, USA)

Lecture 10

Drugs for pain – Understanding the molecular biopharmacology
Thomas Herdegen (Kiel, Germany)

Special Interactive Workshop of Scholars and Faculty

Ethical motivations and limitations of pain research and treatment - do we need guidelines?
Introduction: Manfred Zimmermann (Heidelberg, Germany)

Poster viewing on demand and by appointment

Session VII

Lecture 11

Targeting pain at the molecular level by imaging of the human brain
Vania Apkarian (Chicago, IL, USA)

Lecture 12

Network processes of pain control during general anesthesia
Marshall Devor (Jerusalem, Israel)

Poster Presentations 1-6

1. The effect of protein kinase C inhibition on NMDA receptor phosphorylation during diabetes in the rat
Harutyun Alaverdyan (Yerevan, Armenia)

2. Clinical evaluation of molecular mechanisms involved in degenerative disc related pain
Pablo Andrade (Maastricht, The Netherlands)

3. Bioinformatic and biochemical studies on the phylogenetic variability of proenkephalin-derived octapeptides
Engin Bojnik (Szeged, Hungary)

4. Mechanisms involved in chronic neuropathic pain after spinal root avulsion injury
Daniel Chew (London, United Kingdom)

5. A role for the scaffolding molecule PSD-95, which assembles signalling complexes with glutamate receptors, in chronic pain
Ada Delaney (Edinburgh, United Kingdom)

6. Botulinum toxin A in a rat model of migraine and/or trigeminal neuropathy
Boris Filipovic (Zagreb, Croatia)

Session VIII

Lecture 13

Somatosensory examination of the clinical pain patient
Troels Jensen (Aarhus, Denmark)

Scholars debate

Moderator Marshall Devor (Jerusalem, Israel)

Group 1:

Is pain the exclusive business of afferent A-delta- and C-fibers?
Yes: 5 scholars
No: 5 scholars

Group 2:

Does the cerebral cortex play a central role in pain processing?
Yes: 5 scholars
No: 5 scholars

Discussions conducted by Faculty and Scholars

Lecture 14

Strategies for analgesic drug development - the biotechnology approach
Thomas Herdegen (Kiel, Germany)

Excursion to Siena old town

Bus departs from the Certosa

Guided tour to historical Siena, visit of Cathedral and City Hall

Free time in Siena

Session IX

Lecture 15

Progressive pain following spinal cord injury – a cascade of spreading pathobiology in the CNS?
Manfred Zimmermann (Heidelberg, Germany)

Lecture 16

Opioids: Molecules controlling pain and mediating euphoria, a Janus face?
Ryszard Przewlocki (Krakow, Poland)

Oral Presentations by Scholars

Synthesis, transport and neuronal sorting of SDF-1 / CXCR4 at the spinal level: implications in nociception
Annabelle Reaux Le Goazigo (Paris, France)

Feedback from peripheral musculature to central pattern generator in the neurogenic heart of the crab callinectes sapidus: role of mechanosensitive dendrites
Keyla Garcia Crescioni (Old San Juan, Puerto Rico)

Signalling pathways activated by Sphingosine-1-phosphate in nociceptors in culture
Maria Camprubi Robles (Innsbruck, Austria)

Poster viewing on demand and by appointment

Session X

Lecture 17

Migraine – New molecular mechanisms of an old plague
Daniela Pietrobon (Padova, Italy)

Lecture 18

Pain in transgendered people
Anna Maria Aloisi (Siena, Italy)

Poster Presentations 7-12

7. Sigma-1 receptors are involved in the visceral pain induced by intracolonic administration of capsaicin in mice
Rafa Gonzales (Granada, Spain)

8. Effect of sex hormones on mechanical and cold allodynia following sciatic nerve ligation in rats
Andrey Malyshkin (St. Petersburg, Russia)

9. Phenomics and QTL mapping of sensitivity to noxious heat and mechanical stimuli in naive A/J, C57BL/6J and their 23 AXB-BXA descendant recombinant inbred  (RI) mouse lines
Mariam Mashregi (Toronto, ON, Canada)

10. Novel behavioral models for the assessment of the emotional component of pain and for spontaneous pain in rats
Kris Rutten (Achen, Germany)

11. 5-HT7 receptor-mediated modulation of mechanical nociception in naïve versus neuropathic rats – Implication of Cl- transport dynamics
Florent Viguier (Paris, France)

12. Nucleotides excite sensory neurons via two P2Y receptors and a dual signaling cascade
Arsalan Yousuf (Vienna, Austria)

Session XI

Lecture 19

The enigma of chronic widespread pain - The fibromyalgia syndrome
Giancarlo Carli (Siena, Italy)

Lecture 20

How can the plethora of new mechanisms help in pain treatment?
Troels S. Jensen (Aarhus, Denmark)

Oral Presentations by Scholars

Evaluation of the effects of a new analgesic on ventilation in healthy subjects
Felicitas Thom (Aachen, Germany)

The influence of vitamins B on immunological system and pain in patients with low back pain
Nataliya Yavorska (Lviv, Ukraine)

Central mechanisms and neurochemistry involved in placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia
Nathalie Wrobel (Hamburg, Germany)

Evaluations of the European Pain School by Scholars and Faculty – the FENS/IBRO questionnaire

Farewell Session

Bus Transfer to Rapolano Terme, a hot mineral water Spa in Toscana

Stay and relax at "Terme Antica Querciolaia", Rapolano Terme bathing in the waters of a hot mineral spring known and used by the Romans

Farewell dinner and party in restaurant "Locanda da Annita" in Rapolano Terme

Bus return to the Certosa di Pontignano

Departures