I know you guys are busy but come on

I got the summary statement for my latest NIH grant (this one was for a special mechanism). The application was unscored, again, but you know, I’m cool with no scores now. The summary statement, on the other hand, I am not fine with. Not a single comment on the grant. I poured myself into learning an area that I knew nothing about for this grant. They could have at least given me one sentence. Otherwise, how am I supposed to know the thing was even reviewed.

In other news, my R01 gets resubmitted this week. I need a vacation. Luckily I have one coming up… Mr and Mrs Juniorprof are going to Quito and Galapagos. We’ve got a month before we leave so any advice from those that have been is most welcome.

Silence is the Enemy

Join the fight against sexual crimes against women by participating in the “Silence is the Enemy” campaign. Read Nicholas Kristof’s NYTimes piece that inspired Sheril Kirstenbaum’s post on Discover Blogs starting the campaign. Join the Facebook group. And go read about science on Scienceblogs where many of the bloggers are donating their page-view proceeds to Doctors without Borders in an effort to stop the violence and to bring needed medical attention to its victims. Finally, write your congress-person and let them know that you expect to see political action to reduce crimes against women worldwide.

Covered: Tagged by BikeMonkey

So I got tagged for the “Covered” meme…. Here goes:
Greatest Ever:
Sinead O’Conner, Nothing Compares 2 U, written by Prince, originally performed by The Family.

Worst Ever: Seether, Careless Whisper, destroyed from the original Wham (which is a true classic).

I’m too lazy to tag, but if you’re reading and are so inclined, go for it!

What causes chronic pain – or – how does pain become chronic?

Pain, as terrible as it can be when it outlasts its stay, is actually a vital protective function of our nervous system. The body detects pain through a subgroup of primary sensory neurons, called nociceptors, that innervate the entire body and which normally respond only to high-threshold stimuli such as extreme heat or strong mechanical stimulation. This nociceptive response to potentially tissue damaging stimuli is critical for reflexes and coordinated responses to the stimulus which generally result in a protective reaction (such as withdrawing your hand from a hot stove). Hence, the activation of peripheral nociceptors by pain-inducing stimulation serves a crucial teaching function insofar as it is the signal that protects us from further damage. This fact is best exemplified by studies of rare cases where individuals have a genetic mutation that makes them insensitive to pain. For instance, a family was recently discovered in Pakistan wherein mutations in a voltage-gated sodium channel (called Nav1.7) involved in generating pain signals in nociceptors led to a total lack of pain sensation. Members of this family were working as street entertainers, performing incredible feats such as placing daggers through their arms. Horrifically, one of these young men died after jumping off a roof during one such performance. As tragic as this story is, it serves as an excellent example of how we depend on pain signals to keep us safe from potentially life-threatening injuries.

How does a basic researcher improve patient care?

It may seems that the answer is obvious: do high quality research and try to move your work towards the clinic if you are in a position to do so. This is the position that I have taken since I entered the pain neuroscience area back when I was wee PhD student. As of about three weeks ago, I’ve changed my mind.

First, let’s make a few things clear. I still think that ultimately the research has the potential to have the largest impact on patient care. There is a severe lack of efficacious treatment for large swaths of the chronic pain patient population. As we continue to learn more and more about what makes pain become chronic more and more opportunities for intervention arise. Many of these have the potential to be disease modifying, in other words, to reverse chronic pain by targeting its underlying pathophysiology. In the meantime, the more you get involved in patient issues, the more you realize that there are massive numbers of patients that need help right now. I suppose that all of us know this at some level but sometimes events and/or circumstances make it obvious that you need to take another approach.

The semester is over!!

Just posted final grades. The semester from hell is over! I may actually blog again sometime soon. Let’s just say that writing several grants, directing a course (as the more or less solo lecturer), teaching 5 hrs a week to med students and getting 4 papers out the door has been stressful. However, I survived!

We need better batting helmets

Such a sad story.  A young man gets hit in the head by a pitch and dies.  Apparently he turned to escape a wild pitch and it hit him just below the helmet, killing him. This may sound like a freak accident but the fact is that baseball helmets are not constructed to protect a person when they turn (as is the reflex) to avoid a pitch headed for their head. A simple flap attachment to the back of a helmet (similar to the throat protector on a catcher mask) could stop this from happening in most cases.

I played baseball from the time I could walk until my knees became so bad (from football) that I could no longer bend to catch (I was a catcher). I cannot tell you how many times I have seen players get hit in the head with pitches. If you’re lucky, the ball hits your helmet as you turn but all too often it hits just below the helmet, hitting a relatively softer spot very near the brainstem/spinal cord junction where many respiratory control centers are located (among other things). While I never witnessed anyone severely injured by this, I did see several concussions and had one myself that landed me in the hospital for a day.

If Barry Bonds and other players can get away with wearing protective equipment for their lead elbows as they crowd the plate there is no excuse for not adding to the protection offered by helmets through the addition of an extra unit that would protect the base of the skull from wild pitches. Well, forget Barry Bonds, there is no excuse period. I feel terrible for this kid and his friends and family (and the pitcher). This is a tragedy that could have been avoided.

Rescued from deep inside a thread at Drugmonkey

In DM’s thread on a Nature article concerning the bombing of a UCLA researcher whimple asks to hear from pain researchers:

Good idea, let’s throw out pain research based on animal models altogether.

Yes, this is a possibility that some people are willing to consider, the sarcastic tone of the statement notwithstanding. The best refutation would be evidence that pain research based on animal models has directly resulted in improvements in pain management in animals (including humans as animals).

How about it pain researchers? Can you compile a quickie list of such instances? Even stipulating that the ends can be used to justify the means, if causing pain to animals is “bad”, then this research is going to need to demonstrate that it is “worth it”. There’s a lot of arguing over how bad the badness is, but not a lot arguing over how good the goodness is. In the absence of a list of pain research successes, a cynic might suppose this is because there in fact isn’t any good that has resulted from this research.

To which I responded:

WooT!!!

Juniorprof got a call from a very generous foundation today to notify him that he will be receiving a Fellowship award for the next three years from said foundation. Juniorprof is very excited! While the money is not huge, it is a start, and this Fellowship carries some degree of prestige in Juniorprof’s area that makes it a real honor to be recognized in such a way. Time for a margarita!!

Blogiversary, Author ID numbers and Master’s programs

One year ago today I started this blog and what a wild year its been. I’ve largely been too busy to think about blogging lately but maybe the blogiversary will reinvigorate my blogging efforts…

In that vein, two articles of interest pop out in the latest issue of Science.

1) A call for universal author ID numbers and the difficulty in figuring out how to do it. I think this is a super idea but I understand why it would be very difficult to implement. I thoroughly enjoy perusing the publishing history of my colleagues, seminar speakers and interviewees but this process is becoming next to impossible for authors unless they have the most obscure of names. I think this would be a great tool for all of us that would be increasingly appreciated as time continues to pass (and the pace of publishing continues to increase). Hence, I volunteer to assign myself number 5, in honor of the great George Brett.

2) An article calling for expansion of professional Master’s Science Degrees. I also think that this is a great idea and that Universities should also consider these programs for retraining for workers in areas where job growth is shrinking and can be expected to remain that way for the foreseeable future. While community colleges and vocational schools offer many programs for retraining I think that it would wise to begin to offer more advanced programs for those that really want to expand into new, advanced areas but on an expedited schedule. In other words, a PhD may take too long for a 45 year old who wants to acquire new skills for a new career in the energy industry, for instance. This is how you rebuild economies, me thinks.