Rohini Kuner (born 28 July 1970 in Bombay) is an Indian-born German pharmacologist and director of the Institute of Pharmacology at
Heidelberg University.
Vita
After studying pharmacology in India she obtained her PhD from
University of Iowa in the laboratory of
Gerald Gebhart studying the role of spinal
NMDA-receptors in nociception.
From 1995 she was a
Postdoc
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...
with Peter Seeburg at Heidelberg University. In 2002 she started her own lab through the
Emmy Noether Program of the
German Research Council
The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...
. Since 2006 she is the chair for molecular pharmacology at Heidelberg University.
Since 2015 she heads the collaborative research center
SFB 1158: From nociception to chronic pain.
Rohini Kuner is married to the German neuroscientist Thomas Kuner. In October 2018 she was elected as member of the Heidelberg University Council.
Research
She aims at understanding molecular mechanisms underlying
chronic pain resulting from long-lasting
inflammation or
cancer. A major focus is laid on addressing signalling mechanisms which underlie activity-dependent changes in primary sensory neurons transmitting pain (
nociceptors
A nociceptor ("pain receptor" from Latin ''nocere'' 'to harm or hurt') is a sensory neuron that responds to damaging or potentially damaging stimuli by sending "possible threat" signals to the spinal cord and the brain. The brain creates the sens ...
) and their
synapses
In the nervous system, a synapse is a structure that permits a neuron (or nerve cell) to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another neuron or to the target effector cell.
Synapses are essential to the transmission of nervous impulses from ...
in the spinal dorsal horn. Her current work spans molecular, genetic, behavioural, electrophysiological and imaging approaches in vitro as well as in vivo in rodent models of pathological pain.
Awards
*2019: Member of the
German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
* 2018:
Phoenix Prize for Pharmacology and Clinical Medicine
*2018:
Feldberg Foundation Prize
* 2017: HMLS Investigator Award
* 2017: Novartis Award for Therapy-Related Research
* 2015: Novartis Award
* 2012:
ERC Advanced Grant
* 2010: Pat Wall International Young Investigator Award, International Association for the Study of Pain
* 2007: Pain Research Award, German Society for the Study of Pain
* 2007: Ingrid-zu-Solms-Science Award
* 2006: Chica and Heinz Schaller Award
* 2006: Bergius-Kuhn-Meyerhof-Young Researcher Award (Heidelberg Roatry Club)
* 2005: Rudolf-Buchheim-Award of the German Society for experimental and clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology
References
External links
DFG-Entry Rohini KunerPortrait in Pain Research Forum*
ttp://www.embl.de/mmpu/mmpu/research_groups/chronic_pain/index.html?_ga=1.107317826.1928827796.1410172987 Webpage in the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit, EMBLUniversität Heidelberg, PortraitEntry in Heidelberg Interdisciplinary Center for Neuroscience, IZN Portrait in the excellence cluster Cell Networks, Uni HeidelbergProfile on Academia.netWebpage of the Collaborative Research Center SFB 1158
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuner, Rohini
1970 births
Academic staff of Heidelberg University
Scientists from Mumbai
German pharmacologists
Members of the European Molecular Biology Organization
Living people
Members of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina