News and Events
Pain Research Symposium
ADVANCEMENTS IN TRANSLATIONAL SCIENCE FOR PAIN MANAGEMENT IN CANCER CARE: This symposium will connect you with MD Anderson clinical and basic science experts dedicated to ending pain for cancer patients and survivors. Engage in poster sessions, talks, and patient-caregiver panels to exchange insights and foster collaboration.
Please join us for the next Neurobiology Seminar Series lecture
Targeted Neuroimmune Communication as a Treatment for Endometriosis-Associated Pain
Speaker: Victor Fattori, Ph.D.
Research Associate, Department of Surgery, Vascular Biology Program
Boston Children's Hospital
Friday, April 18, 2025 ¡ñ 11 a.m. to noon CDT
Zayed Building, Z2.4040 Rooms 2 & 3
Or join us on
Meeting ID: 862 5032 0927 ¡ñ Password: 550492
Rafael Cazuza Wins 2024 Cleeland Prize for Symptom Research
The Cleeland Prize for Symptom Research is an annual $500 travel award given by the Department of Symptom Research to the lead author of the basic or clinical research article that best advances our understanding of the symptoms related to cancer or its treatment in new and exciting ways. The prize honors Charles S. Cleeland, Ph.D., McCullough Professor of Cancer Research and chair of the department from its inception in 1996 to 2015. Dr. Cleeland pioneered the use of patient-reported outcome measures to study the symptoms reported by patients with cancer. His research led to personalized interventions that dramatically improved patients' quality of life during and after treatment.
The 2024 Cleeland Prize went to Rafael Cazuza, Ph.D., a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Grace Lab. Rafael's winning article, "," is published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. Neuropathic pain, a major side effect of chemotherapy, has a neuroimmune component. In this article, the authors describe using PET-CT to assess the activity of TSPO (a potential neuroimmune biomarker in painful conditions) in rats after peripheral nerve injury. The study's findings suggest that this PET-TSPO approach may be useful as a translational diagnostic or prognostic tool for assessing neuroimmune response in patients experiencing neuropathy.
Congratulations, Rafael!
Peter Grace Awarded $2.5+ Million NIH Grant
Congratulations to Dr. Peter Grace, chair ad interim of the Department of Symptom Research, on being awarded a competitive second-phase grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for his ongoing project, "Development of Pathology-activated Drugs for Treatment of Neuropathic Pain."
The funding will be applied towards direct costs from September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2027.
The award supports the preclinical development of a first-in-class analgesic prodrug that releases a therapeutic metabolite at sites of pain pathology (triggered by local oxidative stress). The funding will allow Dr. Grace to complete safety and efficacy studies of the prodrug and support the Investigational New Drug application.
Faculty Project Selected as an Institutional Fundraising Priority
Congratulations to Drs. Xin Shelley Wang of the Department of Symptom Research and Yinghong (Mimi) Wang of the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition. Their project, "Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Cancer Immunotherapy-Induced Colitis," has been selected as an institutional fundraising priority.
As a recognized institutional fundraising priority, Drs. Wang and Wang will work with MD Anderson's philanthropy team to develop fundraising materials and work with donors to raise $2,867,019 over the next five years.
Peter Grace Recognized as a "Best Leader"
Dr. Peter Grace, chair ad interim of the Department of Symptom Research, has been awarded the MD Anderson FY25 Institutional Excellence in LEADership award.
Formerly known as the Best Boss Award, the Excellence in LEADership Award recognizes leaders who encourage, empower, and give the support their employees need to succeed. These "best leaders" have a proven track record of:
- Encouraging and practicing work-life balance
- Recognizing employees for accomplishments and milestones and urging team members to do the same
- Encouraging (and requiring) employee growth and development
- Coaching and mentoring employees and encouraging staff to seek out mentors
- Practicing open communication and keeping staff informed of pertinent information
- Demonstrating great overall leadership
Symptom Research For the Win!
Symptom Research took the prize for the most wins in the 2024 Division of Internal Medicine Excellence Awards in May. Well-deserved congratulations go to:
- Dr. Robert Dantzer: Robert F. Gagel Lifetime Achievement Award
- Carrie Howard: Excellence in Division Leadership
- Caitlyn Gaffney: Excellence in Basic Science Research
- Darrick Jackson: Excellence in People Management
The Excellence Awards recognize individual outstanding contributions to the division during the year. Employees are nominated by their departments, and the winners are selected by impartial peers.
Department Faculty Receive Cancer Neuroscience Program Funding
Four department faculty have been awarded more than $1.2 million from MD Anderson's Cancer Neuroscience Program to support research the following projects aimed at enhancing patient survival and facilitating holistic treatment.
Tamara Lacourt, Ph.D.
Project: Central and peripheral markers of cancer-related fatigue: an observational study in two cohorts
Dr. Lacourt will characterize persistent cancer-related fatigue by investigating associations between neurological and peripheral outcomes with dimensions of fatigue in breast cancer survivors and colon cancer survivors who have successfully completed curative treatment.
Yuan Pan, Ph.D.
Project: Elucidate perineural niche in cancer and identify targetable pathways
As Co-PI alongside Dr. Moran Amit, Dr. Pan will study neuron composition and function in human tumor samples, aiming to identify novel targets for treating cancer.
Peter Grace, Ph.D. and Andrew Shepherd, Ph.D.
Project: Development of a rodent neurobehavioral core to assess treatment-related toxicities, mechanism-based drug targets, and therapeutics
Drs. Grace and Shepherd will use this funding to establish a rodent neurobehavioral core facility within the neurotoxicity theme at MD Anderson. This resource will enable researchers to evaluate cancer and treatment-related toxicities, identify drug targets, and validate therapeutics. By facilitating drug candidate validation and reducing investment barriers, this facility will aid preclinical development.
Peter Grace Named Chair Ad Interim
, was named Chair Ad Interim of the Symptom Research department in March 2022.
Dr. Grace joined our faculty as an assistant professor in 2016. Before coming to MD Anderson, he was a research assistant professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
The goal of his research laboratory is to understand the neuroimmune mechanisms of chronic pain and its control. His current work is investigating the adaptive immune mechanisms that initiate and maintain neuropathic pain after traumatic nerve injury. His team is also delineating the analgesic mechanisms and therapeutic potential of the "master regulator" of the antioxidant response Nrf2. He has shown that the Nrf2 activator dimethyl fumarate relieves neuropathic pain, with ongoing work to advance this drug class for clinical treatment of chronic pain.
Cobi Heijnen and Annemieke Kavelaars Retire
Drs. Cobi Heijnen and Annemieke Kavelaars have retired from the Department of Symptom Research and MD Anderson as of March 2022. Dr. Heijnen is the former chair of the department.
Both Heijnen and Kavelaars joined the Department of Symptom Research as professors in 2012, when with Dr. Robert Dantzer they established the Neuroimmonology Laboratories as a new basic science lab within the department.
Dr. Heijnen is one of the founding scientists of the field of psychoneuroimmunology, with a research focus on cellular and molecular mechanisms of neuronal damage, rodent cognition and motoric behavior, and therapeutic targets as neuroprotectants. In seeking to understand the mechanisms and treatment of cancer-related stress, pain, fatigue, and chemotherapy-induced cognitive deficits, she and her team showed that nasal application of mesenchymal stem cells repairs brain damage and can reverse existing chemobrain. On the prevention front, she has shown that mitochondrial protectants prevent chemobrain and that pifithrin-? and metformin can help prevent chemotherapy-induced neuropathy.
Dr. Kavelaars retired with more than 25 years of experience as a researcher in the field of neuroimmunology, resulting in a broad background in the field of brain, behavior, and immunity. Her research was dedicated to understanding the mechanisms underlying the development of chronic pain, the role of the immune system in pain resolution, and novel ways to prevent or treat pain caused by chemotherapy.
Dr. Heijnen remains a professor at Rice University in Houston, Texas.