Allan Basbaum, IASP Honorary Member, Receives the Ralph W. Gerard Prize in Neuroscience
The Society of Neuroscience (SfN) honored Allan Basbaum, PhD, FRS, as one of the recipients of the Ralph W. Gerard Prize in Neuroscience for groundbreaking work that has transformed neuroscience. The Prize will be presented during SfN’s annual meeting in Chicago, 5 – 10 October.
“The Society is honored to recognize this outstanding group of neuroscientists, whose breadth of scientific curiosity and innovation has led to breakthrough insights, landmark models, and revisions to major neuroscientific theories,” SfN President Marina Picciotto, said. “Their work not only elucidates molecular mechanisms and circuits in the brain, but also transforms these insights into new clinical options for a range of diseases from addiction and mental health disorders to neurodegenerative diseases.
The Ralph W. Gerard Prize in Neuroscience — the highest recognition conferred by SfN — recognizes outstanding scientists who have made significant contributions to neuroscience throughout their careers. The prize is named for the revered neuroscientist Dr. Ralph W. Gerard who was instrumental in establishing the Society for Neuroscience and served as its honorary president.
Dr. Basbaum, chair of the department of anatomy at the University of California, San Francisco, is a preeminent leader of the pain research field and has been instrumental in bringing his deep knowledge of anatomy and physiology to the understanding of the neurobiology of pain. Dr. Basbaum has been a member of IASP since 1975, served as the Editor in Chief of the PAIN journal, and currently serves on IASP’s Pain Research Forums Editorial Board. His continued contributions to IASP and pain research have earned him an Honorary Membership.
Dr. Basbaum has helped map the neuroanatomy of the pain system, contributed a landmark model of endogenous pain control circuitry still used forty years later, and combined neuroanatomical and pharmacological approaches to identify several promising therapeutic options for both acute and chronic pain. Dr. Basbaum also studied the interface of certain types of pain with neuroimmune mechanisms and introduced spinal cord cell transplants to restore inhibitory control for pain relief. His work has not only provided important insights into the clinical management of pain, but also revealed that neuropathic pain is, in fact, a disease of the nervous system, not merely a symptom produced by injury.