Dr. Ed Bilsky, UNE

 

Dr. Edward Bilsky currently serves as the Vice President for Research and Scholarship at the University of New England. He received his B.S. (physics) in 1989 and M.S. (Behavioral Neuroscience) in 1991 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy in 1996. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Arizona, he became an Assistant Professor at the University of Northern Colorado in 1997. He received that institutions highest honor, the Faculty Member of the Year in the spring of 2001, for his outstanding teaching, research and service to students. In the fall of 2001, he joined the faculty at the University of New England where he is currently a tenured Professor of Pharmacology and is the Founding Director of the Center of Excellence in Neuroscience. He lectures on a variety of topics to students in the colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, Health Professions, Arts and Sciences and Pharmacy. Dr. Bilsky's laboratory conducts translational research in the areas of pain, addiction and other neurological disorders. He has received over 5 million dollars in extramural funding through a variety of federal, state and private grants and contracts including the National Institutes of Health, the Office of Naval Research and biotechnology/pharmaceutical companies. He has published more than 65 peer-reviewed publications in leading pharmacology journals, and has presented nationally and internationally in a variety of different venues. Dr. Bilsky is a co-founder of a small biotechnology company (Aiko Pharmaceuticals) that is developing a unique class of opioid antagonists for the management of opioid-mediated side effects. He also serves as a consultant for several pharmaceutical companies developing CNS-based therapeutics. He has served as the chair of the University of New England Faculty Assembly and is an Associate Editor for Life Sciences, a journal publishing research in the biomedical sciences. He was recently awarded the 2011 AOA Research Mentor of the Year Award.

 

 

Current Research

 

The research in my laboratory is focused on understanding mechanisms associate with chronic pain and addiction, and developing novel treatments for these conditions.

 

Research Interests

 

Drug development for neurological disorders including pain and addiction

Mechanisms of opioid receptor regulation in health and disease

Public advocacy for pain awareness and effective pain management

K-12 STEM Education and integration of the liberal arts into science programs