Angelika Lampert, MD "Bridging Molecules and Mechanisms: Sensory Neurons and Sodium Channels in Neuropathic Pain"

Description of topic:
Understanding how distinct types of sensory neurons contribute to pain is key to developing targeted treatments. A specific subgroup of human nociceptors, the so-called “sleeping” nociceptors, are closely linked to neuropathic pain. By combining advanced transcriptomic and electrophysiological approaches, we can now define their molecular identity and examine how sodium channel function shapes their excitability. Using patient-derived sensory neuron models, we can reproduce key activity patterns of these nociceptors in vitro, advancing toward an experimentally accessible human pain model. In my talk, I will illustrate how bridging molecular, cellular, and translational levels of analysis brings us closer to a mechanistic understanding of neuropathic pain in humans.

Speakers

Angelika Lampert RWTH Aachen University; Sodium Channel Network Aachen; the Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain Aachen (SCNAACHEN)
Germany

Angelika Lampert, MD, investigates how voltage-gated sodium channels and sensory neuron diversity contribute to the generation of neuropathic pain. Her research combines biophysical analysis of ion channel function with patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models and Patch-Seq profiling to uncover neuronal subtype-specific mechanisms underlying pain. Dr. Lampert is Director of the Institute of Neurophysiology at RWTH Aachen University, Germany, and serves as Speaker of both the Sodium Channel Network Aachen and the Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain Aachen (SCNAACHEN).

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