Chronic Pain Network

Principal Applicant

Dr. Luda Diatchenko is a world-renowned expert in the genetic basis of pain in humans and the development of personalized medicine approaches. Prior to becoming the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Human Pain Genetics, she was a professor in the Center for Neurosensory Disorders at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Diatchenko has authored and published dozens of peer-reviewed research papers and has invented several commercially relevant patents. Her most significant papers relate to the psychological, molecular, cellular, and genetic pathways that mediate both persistent pain states and initial pain reactions. Her recent research focuses on determining the biological ways through which genetics impacts someone’s pain perception, and their risk of developing chronic pain.

In addition, Diatchenko brings vast industry-based experience to McGill University’s Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain. She is co-founder and chief scientific officer of Algynomics, a company creating novel approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain conditions. Previously, she co-founded and then served as director of gene discovery at Attagene, Inc. During this time, Diatchenko was actively involved in the development of several widely used molecular tools for the analysis of gene expression and regulation.