Neurobiology of Pain
The NOPAIN team research focus in experimental and human studies concerning acute, inflammatory and chronic pain mechanisms following a plan on animal and human research objectives. These objectives contribute to the basic, translational and clinical portfolio of ICVS research and output. Maladaptation behaviour in chronic pain will be studied at the experimental (neuropathic and osteoarthritic pain) and human (chronic low back pain and postsurgical pain) levels.
The former will elucidate on neurobiological mechanisms contributing to behavioural alterations in pain chronification, whereas the later will result in indications to manage both chronic low back pain and acute post-surgical pain, as well as to prevent the development of chronic post-surgical pain. Research on new drugs to control inflammatory and chronic pain can lead to future translational studies and contribute to the development of new molecular therapies to treat pain.
Team Members

Hugo Leite-Almeida
Principal Investigator
Team Coordinator

Armando Almeida
Senior Researcher

Filipa Pinto-Ribeiro
Assistant Researcher

Patrícia Ribeiro Pinto
Assistant Researcher

Luiz Luciano Falconi-Sobrinho
Postdoctoral Researcher

Ana Cristina Paredes
PhD Student

Anh Le
PhD Student

Annamária Liptáková
PhD Student

Diana Rodrigues
PhD Student

Inês Ferreira Vieira
PhD Student

Inês Laranjeira
PhD Student

Juliana Fernandes
PhD Student
Success Story
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Projects
- Patrícia Ribeiro Pinto
- Pain sensitivity and psychological profile of chronic low back pain patients Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a very prevalent condition, associated with high disability and…
- Ana Cristina Paredes
- Pain chronification after total joint arthroplasty Arthroplasties are surgical procedures aiming to control pain and recover functionality in osteoarthritis patients. However, they are associated with severe…
- Filipa Pinto-Ribeiro
- Functional studies showed a critical role of descending facilitation in the establishment of pain chronicity. While the electrophysiological properties of brainstem areas have been extensively studied…
- Armando Almeida
- a series of projects where drugs and their derivatives recently developed or used mainly for other pathologies were tested for their potential antidepressant and anxyolitic characteristics.
- Hugo Leite-Almeida
- This project has as general aim to study the activity of a frontostriatal network during decision-making
- Hugo Leite-Almeida
- This project has as general aim the study of behaviour under ethological conditions in animals with neuropathic pain
- Hugo Leite-Almeida
- This project has as general aim to identify behavioural, functional (local field potentials) and molecular (e.g. inflammatory markers) predictive…
- Hugo Leite-Almeida
- This project has as general aim to definine patients who are at risk to develop chronic pain based on molecular and neurophysiological information
Selected Research Outputs
10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002192
10.1093/rheumatology/keab512
10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.09.022
10.1038/s41598-019-49827-1
10.1016/j.bbr.2017.03.003
10.1159/000435929
10.1016/S0072-9752(06)80017-5
10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001170
10.1016/j.pain.2012.07.007
10.1016/j.pain.2011.10.020



Contact us
Fax: +351 253 604 809
Email: icvs.sec@med.uminho.pt
Address
Life and Health Sciences
Research Institute (ICVS)
School of Medicine,
University of Minho,
Campus de Gualtar
4710-057 Braga
Portugal



Copyright ©2022 ICVS. All Rights Reserved



Copyright ©2022 ICVS. All Rights Reserved
Address
Life and Health Sciences
Research Institute (ICVS)
School of Medicine,
University of Minho,
Campus de Gualtar
4710-057 Braga
Portugal



Copyright ©2022 ICVS. All Rights Reserved
Address
Life and Health Sciences
Research Institute (ICVS)
School of Medicine,
University of Minho,
Campus de Gualtar
4710-057 Braga
Portugal