Mar. 12

Chesler Opens NCCIH Lecture Series

Dr. Alexander Chesler

The first speaker in the spring 2018 Integrative Medicine Research Lecture Series sponsored by NCCIH will be Dr. Alexander Chesler, a Stadtman investigator in NCCIH’s section on sensory cells and circuits. He will discuss “Under Your Skin: Molecules and Cells for Touch and Pain” on Monday, Mar. 12 from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in Lipsett Amphitheater, Bldg. 10.

The somatosensory system provides us with the ability to detect touch, temperature and painful stimuli. Chesler will describe how studying patients with a rare and inherited disease helped reveal a key molecule for detecting touch and proprioception, the so-called “sixth sense” that enables the awareness of one’s body in space. He will also discuss how recent advances in genetics and functional imaging in model systems are being leveraged to uncover mechanisms involved in acute and chronic pain.

Chesler received his B.A. in biology from Bard College and his Ph.D. from Columbia University, where he studied the olfactory system. He did his postdoctoral studies at the University of California, San Francisco, using natural products and molecular genetics to probe the sensory pathways that detect painful stimuli.

Chesler joined NIH in 2013 as an Earl Stadtman investigator. His work at NCCIH focuses on determining the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the sensations of touch, temperature and pain.