About APS

American Pain Society and Rita Allen Foundation Announce Scholars in Pain Recipients

The American Pain Society (APS) joins the Rita Allen Foundation (RAF) in announcing recipients of the organizations' collaborative Scholars in Pain program.

APS and RAF work together in promoting the scholarship, judging applications and selecting recipients. The 2010 scholarship awardees are:

  • Diana Bautista, PhD, Assistant Professor, Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California Berkeley for her project “Molecular Mechanisms of Somatosensory Mechanotransduction”
  • Seena Ajit, PhD, Assistant Professor, Drexel University College of Medicine for her project “MicroRNA Regulation and Its Utility as Biomarkers in Neuropathic Pain”

“This is the second year the Rita Allen Foundation and APS have collaborated to award the Pain Scholars Program, and we reviewed the twelve applicants together and made the final two selections,” said APS President Charles E. Inturrisi, Ph.D., professor of pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College. "Pain is the most common reason Americans access the health care system and our hope is that the research of our scholars will lead to improved quality of life for those affected. We are excited for Dr. Ajit and Dr. Bautista and anticipate real progress from their efforts.”

Candidates for the Rita Allen Award in Pain have completed their training and provided persuasive evidence of distinguished achievement or extraordinary promise in basic science research in pain. Preferred candidates are in the early stages of their careers of appointment at a fully independent faculty level.

The Rita Allen Foundation was established in 1953 and sponsors a Scholars Program that has supported more than ninety scholars over the last thirty years, many of whom have made important advances in medical research.

2009 Recipients

Theodore J. Price, PhD
University of Arizona Medical School
"Translations Regulation as a Novel Paradigm for Understanding Nociceptor Sensitization and Developing Analgesic Targets"

Steven A. Prescott, MD, PhD
University of Pittsburgh
"Pain Processing by Neural Networks: A Critical Link between the Molecular and Perceptual Changes"