Psychoneuromicrobiology: Cytomegalovirus infection as a putative link between stress, aging, and immunity

Epidemiological evidence demonstrates increased morbidity and mortality in populations exposed to adverse psychosocial factors such as low socio-economic status and protracted psychological distress (Cohen and Herbert, Annu Rev Psychol 47:113-142, 1996; House et al., Science 241:540-545, 1988; Marmot, Lancet 365(9464):1099-1104, 2005; Schneiderman et al., Annu Rev Clin Psychol 1:607-628, 2005). While the data are clear, the precise mechanisms underlying these associations are yet to be determined (Antoni et al., Nat Rev Cancer 6(3):240-248, 2006; Cacioppo and Hawkley, Perspect Biol Med 46(3 Suppl):S39-52, 2003; Glaser and Kiecolt-Glaser, Nat Rev Immunol 5(3):243-251, 2005; McEwen, N Engl J Med 338(3):171-179, 1998; Uchino et al., Psychol Bull 119(3):488-531, 1996). We, and others, have argued that since increasing age is a major risk factor for a wide range of chronic diseases, the aging process itself may be an important target for such mechanistic research (Bosch et al., Brain Behav Immun 23(4):527-534, 2009; Nilsson, Med Hypotheses 47(1):39-42, 1996)

Pain in Child Health from 2002 to 2015: The early years of an international research training initiative

Background: The 2018 Global Year for Excellence in Pain Education, an initiative of the International Association for the Study of Pain, brought worldwide attention to the need for education that crosses narrow disciplinary boundaries, addresses up-to-date research methods and findings, and encourages teamwork among trainees and mentors at different levels of training and with different perspectives. Aims: This commentary describes the development of Pain in Child Health (PICH), an interdisciplinary training program for researchers in pediatric pain at the undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral levels of training. Methods: Based on documentation of the structure, training processes, leadership, and membership of PICH, we outline its organization and its challenges and accomplishments over the first 12 years of its growth into a well-known international program. Results and Conclusions: Pain in Child Health began as a Strategic Training Initiative of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research in 2002 and developed into an international research training consortium featuring cross-site and cross-discipline mentorship and collaboration. PICH trainees and alumni have contributed extensively to the current scientific literature on children’s pain. PICH could serve as a possible model for training and mentorship in other specialized health research domains within and outside thestudy of pain