Durga P. (DP) Mohapatra, PhD has joined the faculty of the Department of Anesthesiology as an Associate Professor in the Washington University Pain Center. DP joins us from the University of Iowa where he was on faculty for seven years.
The major research focus of Dr. Mohapatra’s laboratory is to define the precise tumor-nerve signaling crosstalk that underlie the initiation and maintenance of chronic pain associated with prostate/breast cancer bone metastases. The Mohapatra group is developing rodent models of chronic ongoing/un-evoked pain behaviors associated with prostate/breast cancer bone metastasis, as well as investigating the precise tumor-nerve signaling mechanisms underlying such chronic painful conditions. The Mohapatra group also works on mechanisms underlying peripheral pain sensitization under conditions of tissue injury, inflammation and development of obesity. Their work seeks to identify and validate specific targets for the development of novel and efficacious pharmacotherapeutics for chronic pain associated with metastatic bone cancers, inflammation and obesity. In addition to pain research, the Mohapatra group is investigating the mechanisms underlying neuronal survival-death dynamics in multiple neurodegenerative conditions, such as stroke-reperfusion injury and neuro-HIV-1 infections. Their multidisciplinary research approach ranges from cellular, molecular, biochemical, live-cell ion imaging and electrophysiology to multiple behavioral assessments in rodent models of human diseases, including the utilization of mouse genetics.