WE-SPARK Health Institute

Photo of Dr. Jeffrey Dason and closeup photo of fruit flies on a banana.Dr. Jeffrey Dason wants to help treat chronic pain in humans by studying the fruit fly.

Fruit fly study targets treatment of chronic pain

Biomedical sciences professor Dr. Jeffrey Dason received a $516,376 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grant for his five-year project, “The role of Neuronal Calcium Sensor-1/Frequenin2 in nociception.”

“1 in 5 Canadians experience chronic pain resulting in cost of healthcare and lost productivity that exceeds the cost of cancer, heart disease and HIV,” says Dason.

To understand what molecules could be potentially targeted in humans to treat chronic pain, he will study the simpler model of the fruit fly.