STUDENT DOCTOR DAVID NICHOLAS RECEIVES EPA POSTER AWARD
How did you end up attending the Annual Eastern Pain Association (EPA) Fall Meeting?
My research mentor, Dr. Cao, recommended that I present my findings at the conference.
Did you experience any hurdles along the way?
One hurdle our research team encountered was the inconsistent functioning of a critical piece of research equipment called a flow cytometer.
Was this the first time you had participated in a research presentation?
In college, I presented at ASBMB conferences in San Diego and Chicago. Here at UNE, I presented my summer research at the Fall Research Symposium. Both research experiences were well attended and included other students. In contrast to prior research experiences, there were more physicians at the Annual Eastern Pain Association Fall Meeting at New York University.
How did you prepare for questions at the poster presentation?
I reviewed my project with my research mentor, Dr. Cao, and the lab team before creating the research poster and reviewed the findings prior to the presentation.
Do you remember any specific questions you were asked?
I was asked if the mice that were involved in the research showed less symptoms of neuropathic pain. My study was part of a bigger effort at the Cao lab to investigate the CD137L receptor. The other studies in the lab showed that the mice do have decreased response to pain.
When did you find out that you had won the poster presentation, and what was your reaction?
I found out in the afternoon on the day of the conference. I was thrilled to have our project receive the award.
David Nicholas, COM ‘22, presented his research at the Annual Eastern Pain Association (EPA) Fall Meeting in October at New York University in Langone, NY. David’s poster, titled, “Spinal Cord Microglial Phenotypic Changes Following Sciatic Nerve Crush In CD137L KO Mice,” won First Place in the Poster Competition. The poster represents his research under the mentorship of Ling Cao, MD, PhD, UNE COM Professor in Biomedical Sciences, during the spring-summer of 2019 with the generous support of the UNE COM Peter Morgane Research Fellowship. Dr. Cao’s on-going research on neuropathic pain is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). Dr. Kinuyo Ohara, DDS, PhD, Visiting Scholar from Nihon University, School of Dentistry, Tokyo, Japan, also made significant contributions to the work presented at the EPA fall meeting. EPA’s winning poster abstracts are expected to be published in the Journal of Pain Research.