Michigan Pharmacology

08/26/2026

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Puthenveedu and his team on receiving one of the first-round UM Strategic Initiative Fund awards! Their award, A Novel Strategy for Effective and Non-Addictive Pain Management, proposes a strategy for effective, non-addictive pain management aimed at addressing the major public health and economic burden of acute and chronic pain. Pain affects a large share of adults in the U.S., reduces quality of life, and costs the economy an estimated hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Current pain treatments remain inadequate: opioids are effective but carry serious risks of addiction, overdose, constipation, nausea, dizziness, and dependence, while many non-opioid alternatives have limited efficacy or problematic side effects. The project seeks to develop a safer, non-opioid therapeutic approach that could improve pain treatment while avoiding the addiction risks and other adverse effects associated with current opioid-based care. If successful, the project could establish a new class of non-addictive pain therapeutics and position U-M as a leader in next-generation pain management.

Read more about their award and the SIF program here: https://looktomichigan.umich.edu/sif-projects/a-novel-strategy-for-effective-and-non-addictive-pain-management/

Congratulations, Dr. Puthenveedu and team!

08/26/2026

A new paper (written by the Ferarrio lab) was recently published in Physiology and Behavior. The paper, “Colony maintenance and the behavioral and physiological characteristics of selectively bred obesity prone and obesity resistant rats” can be found here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42612740/

08/24/2026

The Pharmacological Sciences Training Program (PSTP) was one of the very first cross-college T32s in the United States. We have an impressive and distinguished alumni group of leaders in academia and the pharmaceutical industry who generously give their time and resources to our current trainees.

Since 1978, the Med Chem Department at the College has co-led a National Institutes of Health T32 training grant for PhD students, in collaboration with the Medical School's Department of Pharmacology. It's the longest-running training grant on campus.

08/24/2026

Many thanks to Dr. Macek from Michigan Pharmacology!!

Grateful for support that help launched his career in pharmacology research and drug development, Tom Macek, Ph.D., has made a gift to the University of Michigan Medical School to advance addiction research.

08/24/2026

A new paper (written by the Ruas lab) was recently published in Nature Metabolism. The paper, “The hallmarks of skeletal muscle health” can be found here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42624901/

08/13/2026

Rongxi Zhang (Smrcka Lab) recently received a Predoctoral Fellowship (for his project titled "Uncovering Signaling Downstream of Gq-coupled Receptors in Heart") from the American Heart Association.

Congratulations, Rongxi!

08/12/2026

A new paper (written by the K Jones lab) was recently published in eNeuro. The paper, “GluN2A Enables Noradrenergic Control of Prefrontal Oscillations and Cognitive Flexibility” can be found here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42498666/

08/11/2026

A new paper (written by the Osawa lab) was recently published in Drug Metabolism and Disposition: The Biological Fate of Chemicals. The paper, “High-level expression of full-length human CYP2E1 in Escherichia coli: Comparison of full-length human CYP2E1 to truncated counterpart shows enhanced association with redox partners” can be found here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42398471/

08/10/2026

A new paper (written by the Levitt lab) was recently published in The Journal of Neuroscience: The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience. The paper, “Opposing control of the respiratory brainstem on multiple timescales achieved by noradrenaline and glutamate release from the locus coeruleus” can be found here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42521625/