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BIDDEFORD, Maine

Stevenson lab students present poster at national biomedical research meeting in Washington, D.C.

Glenn Stevenson in his lab with students who presented a poster at a national conference
Glenn Stevenson in his lab with students who presented a poster at a national conference

Philomena Richard (Neuroscience, ’18), Sarah Couture (Neuroscience, ’18) and Emily Payne (Med Bio, ’19) presented a poster at the NIH National IDeA Symposium of Biomedical Research Excellence on June 25.

All three students are current full-time research assistants or recent alumni in the behavioral pharmacology laboratory of Glenn Stevenson, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and program coordinator for the Neuroscience major.

The students presented data on the effects of gut microbiome modulation on distal site inflammatory pain-related behaviors and proinflammatory cytokine expression in Fisher rats.

The gut microbiome-brain axis is a trending topic in science now.  The microbiome can alter pain response and inflammation, but very little is known about how the microbiome may alter conditions that contain both inflammation and pain symptoms.

The students’ data indicated that pretreatment with narrow-spectrum antibiotics depleted “good” bacteria in the gut, and simultaneously and completely blocked inflammatory pain-depressed behaviors for seven consecutive days. The data provides evidence that modulation of gut microbiota has robust protective effects against pain and inflammation regulation.

The experiments were completed in collaboration with Kyle Bittinger, Jung-Jin Lee and Lisa Mattei, of Penn Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Tamara King and Meghan May from 91AV College of Medicine.

Funding for all experiments was provided by a COBRE Pilot Award to Stevenson.

Glenn Stevenson with his students Sarah Couture, Emily Payne and Philomena Richard in Washington, D.C.
Glenn Stevenson with his students Sarah Couture, Emily Payne and Philomena Richard in Washington, D.C.

About the 91AV

The 91AV is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of . In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.