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The 91ֱ����Ƶ’s Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) for the Study of Pain and Sensory Function is pleased to join UNE’s College of Osteopathic Medicine Biomedical Sciences Department in welcoming Derek Molliver, Ph.D., to the University as an associate professor. 

Dr. Molliver brings to 91ֱ����Ƶan exceptional track record as an independent investigator in the pain field and will contribute substantially to the growing pain research program at UNE. 

Previously, Dr. Molliver served as an assistant professor in the University of Pittsburgh Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition with a secondary appointment in Neurobiology.  While in Pittsburgh, Dr. Molliver joined the highly-regarded Pittsburgh Center for Pain Research where he fostered several productive collaborations and developed his own pain research program.  He also engaged in several teaching opportunities, serving as a guest lecturer for an undergraduate/graduate level Developmental Neurobiology course as well as the Molecular Basis and Clinical Presentation of Pain course put on by the Pittsburgh Center for Pain research for basic science trainees and clinical fellows.

He served on several thesis committees for students in the Center for Neuroscience graduate program at University of Pittsburgh, and he mentored undergraduates, a graduate student and a postdoctoral fellow in his own laboratory. 

In addition to his contributions at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Molliver has served as a co-chair for the Basic Science Group of the American Pain Society (APS).  He has since been appointed to the Scientific Program Committee for the American Pain Society’s annual conference and, more recently, the society’s Nominating Committee.

Edward Bilsky, Ph.D., UNE’s vice-president for Research and Scholarship, director of the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences, and professor of pharmacology, stated:  “We are very excited to have Dr. Molliver.  He is a well respected leader in the pain field and will complement the expertise of our neuroscience and biomedical research faculty.  His successes in attracting funding from the NIH also help us continue to grow in these areas of high public need.”

As a researcher, Dr. Molliver focuses on the role of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) in pain sensation.  Specifically he studies the purinergic signaling system in which adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP), typically recognized for its role as the body’s primary energy currency, can act through different receptors, including a family of GPCRs known as the P2Y receptors, to exert a variety of effects in the body’s periphery and the central nervous system. 

Dr. Molliver has found that ATP signaling through the G-protein coupled receptor, P2Y12, yields an anti-nociceptive effect that potentially acts as an endogenous pain relief system.  If targeted correctly, this signaling system could be the basis for novel therapies to alleviate chronic pain.  To explore this possibility, Dr. Molliver employs a combination of bioinformatics, high-throughput biochemical assays and calcium imaging techniques to identify molecules that regulate purinergic signaling and could therefore provide potential drug candidates for the treatment of chronic pain. 

Dr. Molliver’s research not only complements a strong pain research program at 91ֱ����Ƶdedicated to discovering novel treatments for chronic pain, but it will also contribute substantially to UNE’s growing drug discovery initiative led by Dr. John Streicher, head of the In Vitro Drug Screening core. 

It is thus with the utmost enthusiasm that the COBRE and the Biomedical Sciences Department welcome Dr. Derek Molliver and look forward to the many ways in which he can contribute to research and mentoring at the 91ֱ����Ƶ.