Distinguished professor Dr. Paul Durham, Missouri State University’s director of cell biology and the Center for Biomedical and Life Sciences (CBLS), and his colleagues were honored by the American Academy of Orofacial Pain.

At an international meeting of nearly 600 attendees, Durham and his colleagues won the poster award. Their poster, “Vagal Nerve Stimulation Inhibits Activation of Trigeminal Nociceptive Neurons in a Model of Trigeminal Sensitization,” displayed their research project. The project focused on determining whether stimulating a specific nerve (the vagal nerve) could stop the activation of certain neurons which could cause migraines and temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD).

One of the co-authors of the poster, Lauren Cornelison, was previously a graduate student in Durham’s lab and is now a junior research scientist in his lab.