University of New England

Physiology researcher Ian Meng awarded $1.2 million grant to fund rebound headache research
 
BIDDEFORD - University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNECOM) associate physiology professor, Ian Meng, Ph.D., was recently awarded a $1.2 million, four-year federal research grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to conduct research on the causes of medication overuse, or rebound, headache.  
 
Medication overuse headache is a chronic daily headache that occurs in individuals who overuse drugs taken to treat their migraines. It is estimated that more than 2 percent of the general population suffers from this type of headache. Meng’s research project will examine the brain following prolonged drug exposure to determine how specific changes in the pain system can increase headache frequency. 
 
Meng conducts research on the mechanisms underlying the suppression and facilitation of pain. In particular, he is interested in the processes involved in the progression of migraine headache to chronic daily headache.  Risk factors involved in migraine transformation include medication overuse, stress, depression and obesity. 
 
Meng came to UNECOM in 2003 from the University of California, San Francisco's Department of Neurology.
 
NIDA
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The mission of the NIDA is to lead the nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction. This charge has two critical components.  The first is the strategic support and conduct of research across a broad range of disciplines.  The second is ensuring the rapid and effective dissemination and use of the results of that research to significantly improve prevention, treatment and policy as it relates to drug abuse and addiction.

(Press release posted Sept. 29, 2007)