BME7900 Seminar Series - Rachel Miller, PhD

Description

We welcome our next speaker Dr. Rachel Miller from Rush University. Dr. Miller is an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine.

Engineering Solutions to Osteoarthritis Pain

Abstract: Knee osteoarthritis is a painful disease characterized by progressive damage and remodeling of all joint tissues. Degradative changes in the joint cause altered mechanics of the knee as well as contribute to a persistent inflammatory environment, both of which can lead to long-term changes in the nervous system that contribute to chronic pain. Improving our understanding of how peripheral nerves change and respond to differing environments is expected to yield novel therapeutic targets. We use a combination of innovative imaging, omics and behavioral technologies to address this challenge.

Bio: Dr. Rachel E. Miller received her BS and Honors in Bioengineering from Penn State University and her PhD in Biological Engineering from MIT with Dr. Alan Grodzinsky. She came to Rush University Medical Center to work as a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Anne-Marie Malfait, where she developed expertise in animal models of OA and in the neurobiology of pain. Throughout her training, Dr. Miller supported her work through fellowships funded by the NSF, the Department of Defense, and the NIH. Since starting her own laboratory in 2015, she has focused on the identification of novel targets for the treatment of osteoarthritis pain and has been recognized by both pain and arthritis foundations for her work. She has maintained continuous NIH- and foundation-funding, and she is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology and in the Department of Physiology & Biophysics. She serves as the Director of the Behavioral Core for the Chicago Center on Musculoskeletal Pain, an NIH-funded P-30 in the Division of Rheumatology at Rush, as well as co-investigator for the newly established NIH RE-JOIN consortium, which is focused on mapping the innervation of the knee joint. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles, and for the last several years, she has served as an Associate editor of Arthritis and Rheumatology and on the editorial board of Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. She has also served as an advisor for F31, F32 and T32 funded students and postdocs.