Pain researcher and geneticist, Dr. Erin Young, visits with Jeff Blocker about his experience with visceral pain, a condition he has suffered with for over 20 years. At the age of 21, Jeff had a cervical spinal cord injury while serving in the military. Since that time, he’s experienced neuropathic and visceral pain, but for him the visceral pain is at times unbearable. Approximately 70% of patients with spinal cord injury experience chronic pain with at least one third having severely intense pain that impacts mood, function and quality of life. As part of her translational research program, Dr. Young uses rodent models to study the c

ellular mechanisms of visceral pain and also collects specimens from humans to investigate genetic variants that may contribute to visceral pain in patients with spinal cord injuries, irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disorders. Her meeting with Jeff, one of the Center for Advancement in Managing Pain’s community partners, provided her with some insights on his experience with visceral pain, and some added inspiration for continuing her work in this area. For more information about Dr. Young’s lab, visit her webpage and Jeff’s story can be found at the following link.

 

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