Abigail Schwarz, PhD
Tabernanthalog for Dual Treatment of Chronic Pain and Opioid Use Disorder
Abstract
Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a complex and increasingly prevalent condition in the United States; substantial overlap exists in the occurrence of OUD and chronic pain, yet treatments for one condition often exacerbate the other: Thus, developing novel therapeutics that address both pain and OUD is crucial to closing this treatment gap. This proposal aims to evaluate whether tabernanthalog (TBG), a psychedelic-inspired non-hallucinogenic compound, can serve as an effective dual therapy for comorbid OUD and chronic pain. I plan to do this through the following aims: 1) investigating the mechanisms whereby TBG provides chronic pain relief and confers potential opioid-sparing analgesic effects 2) assessing whether TBG can reduce pain-augmented opioid seeking in a translationally relevant model of opioid self-administration. Together, these studies aim to establish TBG as a novel dual therapy for comorbid chronic pain and OUD and elucidate its pharmacological and neurobiological mechanisms.
This award will enable me to learn new cutting-edge techniques, thus preparing me to become an independent scientist studying the neurobiological intersection of chronic pain and substance use disorders.
