We study how sex chromosomes and hormones shape health and disease.
Specifically, we focus on mechanisms of sex differences in pain, reproduction, and cancer immunity.
Women carry a disproportionate burden of chronic pain and of the autoimmune diseases that cause it, and pregnancy remodels the nervous system in ways we are only beginning to map. Our lab works at the junction of these problems.
Chronic pain is far more prevalent in women, yet most of what we know about pain circuits comes from male animals. Using genetic models, single-cell omics, and in vivo calcium imaging paired with behavior, we ask:
Autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis are also strongly sex-biased, and pain is among their most disabling symptoms. Using patient samples and human sensory neurons, we study:
Pregnancy imposes a state of profound neuronal adaptation. We study:
Together, this work aims to define the molecular signature of pain and to open paths to treatment that work across sexes.
Élora Midavaine grew up in Quebec and studied mechanisms and treatments of cancer pain during her PhD at the Université de Sherbrooke. She then trained as a postdoctoral fellow with Allan Basbaum, PhD, at the University of California, San Francisco, where she studied how sex differences in the immune system lead to female-selective mechanisms of pain regulation.
Funding: NIH · CIHR · FRQS · Sandler Foundation
* equal contribution · † corresponding author · PubMed
We study how sex shapes the nervous system, from pain and immunity to pregnancy. We welcome people from all backgrounds and disciplines, and we work with each trainee toward their long-term goals.
We are recruiting postdoctoral fellows, physician-scientists, graduate, medical, and undergraduate students, and a technician. We have a particular interest in people with a grounding in molecular and cellular biology, immunology, or neuroscience who want to bring it to the biology of sex differences. We encourage independence.
Email the PI with a brief statement, one to two paragraphs, describing the questions or projects that interest you, your background, and your long-term goals, and attach a CV.
The lab is at the Mission Bay campus of the University of California, San Francisco.
University of California, San Francisco
Mission Bay campus
[BUILDING AND ROOM]
San Francisco, CA 94158