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Following upon our extensive earlier studies of the CNS circuits through which opioids exert their analgesic effects, our laboratory now examines the mechanisms through which tissue and nerve injury produce changes in the peripheral and central nervous system that result in persistent pain. In parallel studies we examine the circuits through which pruritogens generate itch.

Josh Berke's laboratory at UCSF investigates brain mechanisms involved in learning, motivation and decision-making, and how these mechanisms go awry in disorders such as drug addiction, Parkinson's Disease and Huntington's Disease. (see www.berkelab.org). He is also Director of the Alcohol and Addiction Research Group, and holds the Rudi Schmid Distinguished Professorship in Neurology.

Dr. Dan Ciccarone is the Justine Miner Professor of Addiction Medicine in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF. He has been principal or co-investigator on numerous NIH-sponsored public health research projects, including his current Synthetics in Combination (SYNC) study. He is a recognized international scholar on the medical, public health, and public policy dimensions of substance use, risk, and consequences.

Dr. Stefan Friedrichsdorf is a Professor of Pediatrics and the Chief of the Division of Pediatric Pain, Palliative and Integrative Medicine at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals in San Francisco and Oakland.

As the medical director of the Stad Center for Pediatric Pain, Palliative and Integrative Medicine he proudly leads one of the most comprehensive programs of its kind in the country, which received the prestigious ChildKind International pain relief certification and the Joint Commission Palliative Care Certification.

My research program is focused on basic and translational research on sepsis and other forms of inflammation-driven acute organ failure ("Inflammatory Critical Illness"). Sepsis and multiple organ failure are leading causes of death in the Intensive Care Unit. These processes result from a complex inflammatory response that is initiated through the innate immune system by interactions between host cells and microbes or endogenous host factors that are released during injury or cell death.

Dr. S. Andrew Josephson specializes in neurovascular and other neurologic disorders, caring for general neurology and stroke patients in the hospital as well as in clinic. He is the founder of UCSF's Neurohospitalist Program and specializes in difficult to diagnose inpatient neurologic conditions. He serves as the Dean of the School of Medicine and is Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs at UCSF and the Carmen Castro Franceschi and Gladyne K. Mitchell Neurohospitalist Distinguished Professor.

Our group is interested in understanding how sensory systems enable us to perceive our world. In one aspect of our research, we exploit the power of natural products to elucidate molecular mechanisms of touch and pain sensation. For example, we have asked how capsaicin, the main pungent ingredient in "hot" chili peppers, elicits burning pain, and how menthol, the cooling agent in mint leaves, evokes an icy cool sensation.

Dr. Daniel H. Lowenstein is a Distinguished Professor of Neurology Education in the Department of Neurology and former Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost at the University of California, San Francisco ( UCSF).