Michele Curatolo, MD, PhD, professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of Washington, will present the lecture "Human-Centric Molecular Pain Neuroscience" at 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 6, as part of the Placebo Beyond Opinions Center's Spring Lecture Series. It is open to the public and eligible for continuing education credits. Curatolo will discuss the challenges and opportunities of studying the molecular mechanisms of pain, as it pertains to chronic neck and lower back pain.
Curatolo is an endowed professor for medical education and research and director of the interventional pain program. His expertise is in pain management, education, and research.
After receiving his MD at the University of Messina in Italy, he completed his PhD at the University of Aalborg in Denmark. Clinical leadership roles include 16 years as chief of the Division of Pain Therapy in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Therapy at the University of Bern, Switzerland, where he was interim chair of the department.
Having published more than 220 publications, his research focuses on studying nociceptive processes in humans to improve the understanding of pain and facilitate the development of treatments. Curatolo was one of the initiators of the field of ultrasound-guided interventional pain procedures. His research has been supported in Switzerland by the Swiss Science National Foundation and the Swiss Federal Funding Agency, and currently, in the United States, by several grants from the National Institutes of Health. He has been awarded several prizes for his scientific work, as well as an honorary doctorate at the University of Aalborg, Denmark, and an honorary membership of the Swiss Pain Society.
With extensive experience in university teaching and mentoring, he has been invited to hold over 300 lectures, courses, and workshops in national and international meetings. He has served as reviewer for multiple high-ranked scientific journals, funding agencies, and external academic institutions. Current journal editorial responsibilities include membership in the editorial board of Pain and role as section editor of the European Journal of Pain and the Scandinavian Journal of Pain.
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