Ratan Banik, MD, PhD

• American Society of Anesthesiologists

My research in the last 15 years has extensively used a rat model of postoperative pain following surgical incision, which includes behavioral phenotypes, peripheral nociceptor sensitization, and pharmacologic modulation. To understand genomic effects associated pain behaviors after surgery, my lab performed a transcriptomic analysis of the rat dorsal root ganglia using state-of-the-art next-generation sequencing. The approach permits the assessment of all genes expressed in the primary afferent neurons, uncovering gene dysregulation and respective molecular networks critical for the development of postoperative pain. Using this method, we found gene expression changes in samples from animals after surgery. Using a knowledge-based Ingenuity Pathway Analysis, which annotates genes into functional network based on experimental database, we identified several gene networks in the development of postoperative pain behaviors. Our ongoing studies are aimed at identifying a novel pharmacologic target with high therapeutic potential in postoperative pain.