Professor and Chair of the Department of Anatomy at the University of California, San Francisco

Allan Basbaum, PhD is professor and chair of the Department of Anatomy at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Basbaum received his BSc from McGill University, his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and did postdoctoral research at University College London. His research addresses the molecular mechanisms that underlie the generation of persistent pain after tissue or nerve injury and his laboratory has developed cell transplantation for the treatment of chronic pain.

Dr. Basbaum was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society in the U.K.

Sessions at Neurovations Events

2018 Napa Pain Conference

Neurology of the Pain & Itch Neurons

2014 Napa Pain Conference

Embryonic Cell Transplantation for Neuropathic Pain

Select Publications

Malmberg, A.B.; Chen, C.; Tonegawa, S.; Basbaum, A.I. (1997). “Preserved acute pain and reduced neuropathic pain in mice lacking PKCg”. Science. 278: 279–283. doi:10.1126/science.278.5336.279. PMID 9323205.
Liu, H.; Mantyh, P.W.; Basbaum, A.I. (1997). “NMDA-receptor regulation of substance P release from primary afferent nociceptors”. Nature. 386: 721–724. doi:10.1038/386721a0.
Cao, Y.Q.; Mantyh, P.W.; Carlson, E.J.; Gillespie, A.-M.; Epstein, C.J.; Basbaum, A.I. (1998). “Primary afferent tachykinins are required to experience moderate to intense pain”. Nature. 392: 390–394. doi:10.1038/32897.
Caterina, M.J.; Leffler, A.; Malmberg, A.B.; Martin, W.F.; Trafton, J.A.; Petersen-Zeitz, K; Koltzenburg, M.; Basbaum, A.I.; Julius, D. (2000). “Impaired nociception and pain sensation in mice lacking the capsaicin receptor”. Science. 288: 306–313. doi:10.1126/science.288.5464.306. PMID 10764638.
Trafton, J.A.; Abbadie, C.; Marek, K.; Basbaum, A.I. (2000). “Postsynaptic signaling via the µ opioid receptor: Responses of dorsal horn neurons to exogenous opioids and noxious stimulation”. J. Neurosci. 20: 8578–8584.
Neumann, S.; Bradke, F.; Tessier-Lavigne, M.; Basbaum, A.I. (2002). “Regeneration of sensory axons within the injured spinal cord induced by intraganglionic cAMP elevation”. Neuron. 34: 885–893. doi:10.1016/s0896-6273(02)00702-x.
Braz, J.M.; Nassar, M.A.; Wood, J.N.; Basbaum, A.I. (2005). “Parallel “pain” pathways arise from subpopulations of primary afferent nociceptor”. Neuron. 47: 787–93. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2005.08.015. PMID 16157274.
Ahn, A.H.; Basbaum, A.I. (2006). “Tissue injury regulates serotonin 1D receptor expression: implications for the control of migraine and inflammatory pain”. J Neurosci. 26: 8332–8338. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.1989-06.2006. PMC 1851888 . PMID 16899728.
Bautista, D.M.; Jordt, S.E.; Nikai, T.; Tsuruda, P.R.; Read, A.J.; Poblete, J.; Yamoah, E.H.; Basbaum, A.I.; Julius, D. (2006). “TRPA1 mediates the inflammatory actions of environmental irritants and proalgesic agents”. Cell. 124: 1269–1282. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2006.02.023.
Neumann, S.; Braz, J.M.; Skinner, K.; Llewellyn-Smith, I.J.; Basbaum, A.I. (2008). “Innocuous,not noxious,input activates “PKC” interneurons of the spinal dorsal horn via myelinated afferent fibers”. J Neurosci. 28: 7936–7944. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.1259-08.2008. PMC 3844752 .
Imamachi, N.; Park, G.H.; Lee, H.; Anderson, D.J.; Simon, M.I.; Basbaum, A.I.; Han, S.K. (2009). “TRPV1-expressing primary afferents generate behavioral responses to pruritogens via multiple mechanisms”. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 106: 11330–11335. doi:10.1073/pnas.0905605106. PMC 2708751 . PMID 19564617.
Cavanaugh, D.J.; Lee, H.; Lo, L.; Shlelds, S.D.; Zylka, M.J.; Basbaum, A.I.; Anderson, D.J. (2009). “Distinct subsets of unmyelinated primary sensory fibers mediate behavioral responses to noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli”. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 106: 9075–9080. doi:10.1073/pnas.0901507106. PMC 2683885 . PMID 19451647.
Scherrer, G.; Imamachi, N.; Cao, Y-Q; Contet, C.; Mennicken, F.; O’Donnell, D.; Kieffer, B.L.; Basbaum, A.I. (2009). “Dissociation of the opioid receptor mechanisms that control mechanical and heat pain”. Cell. 137: 1148–1169. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2009.04.019. PMC 3683597 . PMID 19524516.
Seal, R.P; Wang, X.; Guan; Raja, S.N.; Woodbury, C.J.; Basbaum, A.I.; Edwards, R.H. (2009). “Low threshold C-mechanoreceptors are required for injury-induced mechanical hypersensitivity”. Nature. 462: 651–655. doi:10.1038/nature08505.
Scherrer, G.; Low, S.A.; Wang, X.; Zhang, J.; Yamanaka, H.; Urban, R. Solorano; Harper, B.; Hnasko, T.S.; Edwards, R.H.; Basbaum, A.I. (Dec 2010). “VGLUT2 expression in primary afferent neurons is essential for normal acute pain and injury-induced heat hypersensitivity”. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 107 (51): 22296–301. doi:10.1073/pnas.1013413108. PMC 3009833 . PMID 21135246.
Shields, S.D.; Cavanaugh, D.J.; Lee, H.; Anderson, D.J.; Basbaum, A.I. (Nov 2010). “Pain behavior in the formalin test persists after ablation of the great majority of C-fiber nociceptors”. Pain. 151 (2): 422–9. doi:10.1016/j.pain.2010.08.001. PMC 2955806 . PMID 20832171