Title: Chronic Pain: Role of endogenous opioid homeostasis.

By: Dr.Saurabh Aggarwal

Associate Professor

Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine 

Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine

Research Activities: Dr. Aggarwal is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at Florida International University, College of Medicine. He received his Doctor of Medicine (MD) with distinction and then his PhD from the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) again with distinction by a unanimous decision by the members of his dissertation committee. During his doctorate, he received the prestigious American Heart Association predoctoral fellowship for his work on pulmonary hypertension in children with congenital heart diseases. During his postdoctoral training at MCG and then at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), he was acknowledged by several travel awards and Excellence in Research awards for his work on pulmonary edema in acute respiratory distress syndrome.

As an Assistant Professor at UAB, he investigated the pathogenesis of toxic gases such as chlorine, bromine, and phosgene in developing acute and chronic lung injury. He won the K12 award to study the role of cigarette smoking in lung health in people with HIV. He is a PI on a U01 grant to determine the role of innate immune cells in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic lung injury post-inhalation of toxic gases.  He is also a PI of an RO1 grant, which will determine mechanisms and therapeutics of chronic widespread pain in HIV.

He has authored over 85 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters in reputed journals like Redox Biology (impact factor 11.8), European Respiratory Journal (impact factor 16.67), and JCI Insight (impact factor 8.315). Over the past 15 years, he has won several accolades for his research, including the Young Investigator of the Year award from the Society for Redox Biology and Medicine.

Teaching Activities: Dr. Aggarwal has mentored 30 undergraduate and seven medical students in biomedical programs to develop research projects and participate in regional and national science exhibitions, who have achieved accolades for their research accomplishments and prestigious residencies. He has also mentored three postdoctoral fellows, who have won prestigious awards and seed funding for their research projects. Dr. Aggarwal is well-trained in lung physiology and pathology and delivers lectures on “hypoxia and hypoxemia” to medical students. As an active member of the research community involved in patient-based research, he started the first clinical research program at FIU. He has shared his expertise with regional, national, and international audiences through grand rounds and invited speakers to national and international conferences. He has served as a reviewer and associate editor for the prestigious Physiological Reviews (impact factor 37.312) and a member of the editorial boards for the American Journal of Physiology, Lung Cell and Molecular Physiology, and the Frontiers in Physiology. In total, he is a reviewer for 14 journals covering vast areas of research. He was recently chosen as the Star Reviewer by the American Physiological Society.

Light refreshments will be provided.