Alan Prossin

Background

About Alan Prossin

I am a Tenure-Track Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Director of the Neuroimmune Interactions in Depression, Addiction, and Pain (NIDAP) Research Program, and Director of the Interdisciplinary PET Working Group at UT McGovern Medical School, Houston, TX. I am an electrical engineer and psychiatrist, with additional post-doctoral training in molecular neuro-immune imaging completed at the University of Michigan’s Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute. My clinical translational research program focuses on developing novel and innovative molecular brain imaging paradigms to discover and validate neuroimmune bio-signatures at the intersection of pain and depression. At the root of my work is a strong desire to translate robust findings from psychoneuroimmunology research in animal models to humans and subsequently, to develop more efficacious immune based treatment strategies across a range of mind-body illnesses. My work has specifically focused on enhancing understanding of molecular mediators and moderators underlying neuroimmune interactions in co-morbid pain and depression and how state and trait disparities in central and peripheral immune activation impact negative affect states including pain and depression. This work is (has been) funded through Federal (NIH/NIDA/NINDS, DOD), Foundation (BBRF/NARSAD: Young Investigator Grant), and Institutional (Presidential Collaborative Research Award) grant awards.