Joshua Little, DC, PhD
National University graduate ('05)
Joshua Little, DC, PhD, is an assistant professor at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine
where he is researching the underlying mechanisms of chronic pain.
His most recent research, conducted with an
international team of scientists led by Daniela Salvemini, PhD, is
being heralded as "discovering the 'off-switch' for chronic pain"
by science and news media around the world.
The team found that turning on a specific receptor in the brain
and spinal cord selectively counteracts chronic pain. Specifically,
activating the A3 adenosine receptor in nociceptive processing and
modulating sites of the central nervous system induces potent
relief of persistent neuropathic pain in male and female rodents.
These findings could help develop better pain management approaches
designed to trigger this receptor. Such an approach may be a boon
to those suffering from chronic pain and could replace other pain
medications that pose negative side effects.
"My father suffered from chronic pain. He tried many treatment
options, but never found consistent pain relief," says Dr. Little.
"At an early age, I had first hand knowledge of how chronic pain
can negatively impact one's quality of life. Because of my
experience, I wanted to better understand how chronic pain occurs
in the hope of finding ways to provide more meaningful pain
relief."
A Doctor of Chiropractic degree was
an integral part of Dr. Little's career goals in research. "I was
very interested in neuromusculoskeletal conditions and the use of
manual medicine and rehabilitation to treat those conditions. I was
equally interested in academia and research. I chose to earn both
professional and basic science degrees to provide me with the
training necessary to pursue these interests."
While at NUHS, Dr. Little served as a research fellow under the
dean of research, Dr. Gregory
Cramer. "NUHS developed my appreciation and desire to perform
research, providing me with a wide spectrum of learning
opportunities. I gained an understanding of hypothesis driven
research, animal care, experimental design, data collection,
scientific writing and grant preparation. Dr. Cramer, as well as
the faculty and staff of the NUHS Research
Department, made a critical investment in my research
career."
Today, Dr. Little is still collaborating with Dr. Cramer. They
are continuing multiple lines of spinal research that examine
imaging, degeneration, pain, and mechanisms of therapeutic
approaches such as spinal manipulation. Their research on assessing
the severity of spinal degeneration with radiographs was recently
accepted for publication in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological
Therapeutics.
After earning his DC at NUHS, Dr. Little went on to complete his
PhD in anatomy at Saint Louis University where his research focused
on the role of reactive nitroxidative species in the neurobiology
of pain. He continued his training in pain research at Saint Louis
University in the department of pharmacological and physiological
sciences as a postdoctoral fellow focusing on pain research. He has
published articles relating to pain in several prominent scientific
journals, including Brain, The Journal of Neuroscience; Brain, Behavior and Immunity; Free Radical Biology and Medicine; Journal of Biological Chemistry; Pain; Amino Acids; and the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological
Therapeutics.
Dr. Gregory Cramer of NUHS says, "Dr. Little was an outstanding
research fellow when he attended our university, and his work
helped to produce several papers and abstracts. We are incredibly
proud of his current research. Brain is a very prestigious
journal and to be first author on a paper with such an important
impact at this early stage in Dr. Little's career is
magnificent."
Dr. Little hopes that his work will help advance the current
understanding of the causes of chronic pain and eventually optimize
patient care to improve pain relief and the quality of life for
chronic pain sufferers. "I am particularly interested in
investigating the neurobiological mechanisms that contribute to
musculoskeletal pain, especially low back pain, which is a major
cause of global disability," he says. "This will be one important
line of research in my lab going forward. Although studying low
back pain is inherently difficult, the findings could have
tremendous impact on society."
"I remember Dr. Little and it's no surprise that he is excelling
in his field," says NUHS President Dr. Joseph Stiefel. "Both his
current and future work will undoubtedly contribute to better
patient care through improved pain management."
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