From Research to Relief: New Migraine Treatments in the Pipeline

Professor Amynah Pradhan, PhD, is the director of the Center for Clinical Pharmacology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and a neuroscientist specializing in migraine research. With extensive experience in pain, migraine, and opioid pharmacology, she received her PhD in Pharmacology and Therapeutics from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. Dr. Pradhan established her own laboratory in 2013 and joined the Center for Clinical Pharmacology in 2022.

A major focus of Dr. Pradhan’s research is understanding the role of opioid receptors in migraine and pain states. She led the first group to develop a novel preclinical model of chronic migraine pain, which is now widely used as a screening tool in both academic and industry labs. Dr. Pradhan identified the delta opioid receptor as a new therapeutic target for headache disorders, leading to the development of a novel delta agonist for migraine that is entering Phase II clinical trials. Her ongoing studies explore how delta opioid receptors regulate headache disorders and associated symptoms. Additionally, she investigates the molecular mechanisms contributing to migraine chronicity, including neuronal complexity and cytoskeletal dynamics. Dr. Pradhan aims to translate laboratory findings into clinical applications, particularly for the treatment of migraine and related neuropsychiatric conditions.