APS/APRA Scholarships
The Australian Pain Society/Australian Pain Relief Association (APS/APRA) PhD scholarship program is in its 14th year and is recognised as a flagship training program for higher degree research in pain in Australia.
With the ongoing generous financial sponsorship of our industry sponsors, the Society is in a position to offer an APS/APRA PhD scholarship each year. We sincerely thank Mundipharma Australia and Janssen-Cilag for supporting this important initiative of the APS/APRA which is targeted to producing the next generation of research leaders in the pain field.
Current APS/APRA Scholarship holders
APS/APRA Scholarship sponsored by Mundipharma Australia
Zoe Brett
Laboratory of Neural Structure & Function
Sydney Medical School
University of Sydney NSW
Injury triggers an acute response characterised by inflammation, pain and coping behaviours. For most individuals this acute response leads to recovery, however in a select group of individuals despite injury healing, pain persists and specific emotional coping responses are chronically engaged resulting in behavioural dysfunction and disability. It is not yet understood why acute injury leads to chronic disability and pain in only a select group of individuals.
This study aims to identify behavioural characteristics and neural adaptations that characterise potential predictors of disability following injury. This research will lead to a much better understanding of the specific central neural adaptations and behavioural characteristics which, in a select group of animals and people, underlie the maladaptive progression from acute injury to a state of chronic pain and disability and more importantly develop the ability to predict susceptibility to developing chronic pain and disability after injury or as a consequence of surgery.
APS/APRA Scholarship
Amelia Edington
Discipline of Pharmacology
School of Medical Sciences
University of Sydney NSW
N-Arachidonyl-glycine (NAGly) is an endogenous compound that is analgesic in rat models of neuropathic and inflammatory pain. One of the mechanisms of action of NAGly is inhibition of the glycine transporter, GLYT2, whilst it has no effect on the closely related glycine transporter, GLYT1. Amelia's overall aim is to determine the molecular basis of the action of NAGly and a series of related compounds on GLYT2. The knowledge gained from this research will allow for rational drug design of novel selective GLYT2 inhibitors for the treatment of chronic pain.