Astrid G. Stucke, MD, Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin has been awarded a two-year $175,000 grant to study opioid-sensitivity of the preBötzinger Complex under the mentorship of Eckehard A.E. Stuth, MD, Professor of Anesthesiology.
The preBötzinger Complex (PBC) is an area of the brainstem that is prominently involved in the generation of respiration. Since opioids cause severe respiratory depression it is of great interest to determine whether they directly affect the PBC. This knowledge may allow the development of drugs that can antagonize the respiratory depression directly in the PBC.