Vice Dean Wei-Hsin Sun
Email：weihsin@nycu.edu.tw
Job tasks |
1.Internationalization in education 2.International student counseling 3.English medium instruction 4.Recruitment of international students 5.Scholarships for international students |
Affiliation | |
Department of Life Sciences and Institute of Genome Sciences, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University | Professor |
Areas of Expertise |
Chronic pain, Molecular nociception, Neuroinflammation, G-protein coupled receptors, signal transduction, Drug discovery |
Research Direction |
Chronic pain, when not effectively treated and relieved, may have a harmful effect on all aspects of health-related quality of life. Although opioids and cannabinoids are well-known analgesic drugs of choice for the treatment of pain, their utility is often limited by unacceptable side effects due to actions at identical receptors outside of the pain pathway. Therefore, one of the major challenges in pain research is to identify potent drug targets with no side effects. G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that represent a major class of signal transduction play important roles in modulation of acute and chronic pain, which has highlighted their potential as pain targets. My long-term goal is to understand the molecular mechanisms of chronic pain using two major pain models, rheumatoid arthritis (Inflammatory/Nociplastic pain) and peripheral neuropathy (neuropathic pain). Current Research are focused on several areas: (1) The transition from the acute to chronic pain – modulation of proton-sensing GPCRs on distinct nociceptors; (2) Gut Microbe to Brain signaling and pain – neuroimmune modulation; (3) Peripheral nerve degeneration and pain – interaction between neurons and glial cells; (4) sexual dimorphism in functional pain syndromes – neurohormone modulation; (5) Analgesic drug development. Genetic techniques (such as knockout, knockdown), pain behavioral tests, pharmacological assays, cell-based system, and calcium/sodium imaging techniques are used to study the mechanisms of chronic pain. |