Catherine Cahill

Background

About Catherine Cahill

I am a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles. I received her B.Sc. in Chemistry from Mount Allison University in 1987 and completed graduate training (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) in the Department of Pharmacology from Dalhousie University in 1996 under the supervision of Dr. Jana Sawynok. I received postdoctoral training under supervision of Drs. Andy Dray and Terence Coderre at the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, Dr. Alain Beaudet at the Montreal Neurological Institute, and Dr. James Henry at McGill University. My first academic appointment was in 2002 in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology at Queen’s University and I was awarded a Canada Research Chair in Chronic Pain from 2003-2012. I am a neuro-pharmacologist with specific training and expertise in assessment of pain behavior and neuroanatomy. My ongoing research involves investigating neuronal-glial interactions and how glial reactivity modifies changes in opioid receptor function in chronic pain states. My emerging research program focuses on how neuropathic pain impacts opioid reinforcement circuitry and how perturbation in dopaminergic transmission partially accounts for the blunted response of opioids in treating neuropathic pain. I am a recipient of a Premier’s Research Excellence Award, a Basmajian Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research, and the Merck Junior Scientist Award from the Canadian Pharmacology & Therapeutics Society. My research is currently funded by NIH NIDA and Department of Defense.