Sex Differences in Migraine and Pain: A Podcast with Frank Porreca

In this MSC podcast, Dr. Porreca discusses his career path, some of his recent research on sex differences in migraine and pain, and more.

Editor’s note: Dr. Frank Porreca is a professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and Anesthesiology at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. His research focuses on understanding brain circuits that promote pain, migraine, post-traumatic headache and the overlap of these circuits with opioids. His work has explored action selection resulting from the motivational dimension of pain, and the reward from relief of pain aversiveness, as a basis for discovering new therapies with high translational relevance. Dr. Porreca has contributed to understanding of the central modulation of pain, how stress and opioids modulate pain, and the discovery of molecules and antibodies that can treat pain.

Frank Porreca

His recent work has focused on sexually dimorphic mechanisms promoting female pain conditions, including headache disorders and pelvic pain. He has discovered that nociceptive sensory neurons from rodents, non-human primates and humans are functionally male or female, allowing for the discovery and development of precision medicine strategies to treat pain differently in either men or women. 

For this Migraine Science Collaborative podcast, Dr. Porreca spoke with freelance writer Fred Schwaller to discuss his career path, some of his recent research on sex differences in migraine and pain [see MSC related news here and here], and more.

Listen to the podcast below, which is also available on Apple Podcasts.

Fred Schwaller, PhD, is a freelance science writer based in Germany.

Image credit: eraxion/123RF Stock Photo.