Awards and recognition

Terry Snutch receives Neuropathic Pain Research Award

Fifth Annual Awards Competition Dedicated to Independent Pain Research

KIRKLAND, QC, June 12, 2012 /CNW/ – Pfizer Canada is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2011 Neuropathic Pain Research Awards, an annual grant competition for independent research in the areas of basic biomedical, clinical and health service and systems sciences.

 “For the past five years, the Neuropathic Pain Research Awards have supported Canadian medical innovation and research in neuropathic pain,” says Lorella Garofalo, Director, Medical Affairs, Pfizer Canada.

The awards provide funding grants to outstanding research that has the potential to improve the quality of life of people living with neuropathic pain (NeP), a common pain condition estimated to affect over one million Canadians.It is both incredibly painful and difficult to diagnose as there are a number of conditions that must first be ruled out.

“Patients with neuropathic pain will have symptoms like burning, tingling or shocks,but beyond physical pain, this condition affects a person’s emotional, social and financial well being,” says Garofalo. “By some estimates, Canadians with NeP lose $2,567 every three months as a result of lost productivity and other consequences of their pain.”

Terrance Snutch, PhD, FRSC, University of British Columbia received one of these awards for his research project entitled:  Effect of pregabalin on cortical spreading depression and synaptic efficacy in a model of chronic migraine.  Dr. Snutch’s research investigates the effectiveness of pregabalin as an effective prophylactic treatment for chronic migraine sufferers. His research is significant for the two to five per cent of the Western world who suffer from chronic migraines, where chronic is defined as more than 15 migraines per month.