Jamie Moffa

Program: Neurosciences

Current advisor: Bryan Copits, PhD

Undergraduate university: University of Connecticut, 2017

Enrollment year: 2020

Research summary
Brainstem responses to pain sensation and opioid analgesics

My research is focused on the questions of how the brain responds to acute and chronic pain, and how medications such as opioids interact with various circuits within the brain to alter this response. To do this, I am focusing on an area of the brainstem called the Rostral Ventromedial Medulla, or RVM, which acts as a relay station for pain sensation between the central nervous system and the periphery.

For my thesis project, I am developing a novel technique which combines CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genetic manipulation with a method called Fos-TRAP, which allows for isolation of groups of neurons based on their activity in response to stimuli such as pain. In doing so, I will be able to delete the mu-opioid receptor specifically in pain-activated neurons in the RVM, which will allow me to determine the contribution of these neurons to pain sensation and opioid-mediated analgesia.

Graduate publications
Moffa JC, Bland IN, Tooley JR, Kalyanaraman V, Heitmeier M, Creed MC, Copits BA. 2024 Cell specific single viral vector CRISPR/Cas9 editing and genetically encoded tool delivery in the central and peripheral nervous systems. eNeuro, 11(7):ENEURO.0438-23.2024. PMCID: PMC11228695