Peter M. Grace, Ph.D.
Department of Symptom Research, Division of Internal Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Associate Professor, Department of Symptom Research, Division of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2011 | University of Adelaide, Adelaide, AUS, PHD, Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology |
| 2006 | University of Adelaide, Adelaide, AUS, Honors, Health Sciences |
| 2005 | University of Adelaide, Adelaide, AUS, BS, Pharmacology |
Experience & Service
Academic Appointments
Assistant Professor, Department of Symptom Research, Division of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2016 - 2022
Research Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, 2015 - 2016
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, 2011 - 2014
Institutional Committee Activities
Executive Committee Member, Cancer Neuroscience Initiative, 2018 - Present
Member (ad hoc), Search Committee, Department of Symptom Research, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2018 - Present
Review Panelist, Biomedical Sciences Grant Review, Innovative Seed Grant Program, University of Colorado Boulder, 2013 - Present
Honors & Awards
| 2018 | Robert Ader New Investigator Award, PsychoNeuroimmunology Research Society |
| 2017 | Rising STARs Award, University of Texas |
| 2014 | Future Leaders in Pain Research Award, American Pain Society |
| 2013 | Sir Keith Murdoch Fellowship (Postdoctoral), American Australian Association |
| 2013 | CJ Martin Overseas Biomedical Fellowship (Postdoctoral), Australian National Health and Medical Research Council |
| 2011 | Dean's Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence, Dean of Graduate Studies, University of Adelaide |
Professional Memberships
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Grace PM, Strand KA, Galer EL, Rice KC, Maier SF, Watkins LR. Protraction of neuropathic pain by morphine is mediated by spinal damage associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) in male rats. Brain Behav Immun 72:45-50, 2018. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28860068.
- Lacagnina MJ, Watkins LR, Grace PM. Toll-like receptors and their role in persistent pain. Pharmacol Ther 184:145-58, 2018. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28987324.
- Lacagnina MJ, Kopec AM, Cox SS, Hanamsagar R, Wells C, Slade S, Grace PM, Watkins LR, Levin ED, Bilbo SD. Early-life experience alters opioid self-administration in adulthood via anti-inflammatory IL-10 signaling in nucleus accumbens. Neuropsychopharmacology 42(11):2128-40, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28436446.
- Lewis SS, Grace PM, Hutchinson MR, Maier SF, Watkins LR. Constriction of the motor facial nerve produces unilateral craniofacial allodynia. Brain Behav Immun 64:59-64, 2017. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27993689.
- Grace PM, Loram LC, Christianson JP, Strand KA, Flyer-Adams JG, Penzkover KR, Forsayeth JR, van Dam AM, Mahoney MJ, Maier SF, Chavez RA, Watkins LR. Behavioral assessment of pain, fatigue, and mood disorders in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) and attenuation by interleukin-10 gene therapy. Brain Behav Immun 59:49-54, 2017. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27189037.
- Grace PM, Gaudet AD, Staikopoulos V, Maier SF, Hutchinson MR, Salvemini D, Watkins LR. Nitroxidative Signaling Mechanisms in Pathological Pain. Trends Neurosci 39(12):862-879, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27842920.
- Mashaghi A, Marmalidou A, Tehrani M, Grace PM, Pothoulakis C, Dana R. Neuropeptide substance P and the immune response. Cell Mol Life Sci 73(22):4249-4264, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27314883.
- Ellis A, Grace PM, Wieseler J, Favret J, Springer K, Skarda B, Ayala M, Hutchinson MR, Falci S, Rice KC, Maier SF, Watkins LR. Morphine amplifies mechanical allodynia via TLR4 in a rat model of spinal cord injury. Brain Behav Immun 58:348-356, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27519154.
- Das N, Dewan V, Grace PM, Gunn RJ, Tamura R, Tzarum N, Watkins LR, Wilson IA, Yin H. HMGB1 activates proinflammatory signaling via TLR5 leading to allodynia. Cell Rep 17(4):1128-1140, 2016. PMID: 27760316.
- Grace PM, Fabisiak TJ, Green-Fulgham SM, Anderson ND, Strand KA, Kwilasz AJ, Galer EL, Walker FR, Greenwood BN, Maier SF, Fleshner M, Watkins LR. Prior voluntary wheel running attenuates neuropathic pain. Pain 157(9):2012-23, 2016. PMID: 27355182.
- Dodds KN, Beckett EA, Evans SF, Grace PM, Watkins LR, Hutchinson MR. Glial contributions to visceral pain: implications for disease etiology and the female predominance of persistent pain. Transl Psychiatry 6(9):e888, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27622932.
- Grace PM, Strand KA, Galer EL, Urban DJ, Wang X, Baratta MV, Fabisiak TJ, Anderson ND, Cheng K, Greene LI, Berkelhammer D, Zhang Y, Ellis AL, Yin HH, Campeau S, Rice KC, Roth BL, Maier SF, Watkins LR. Morphine paradoxically prolongs neuropathic pain in rats by amplifying spinal NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 113(24):E3441-50, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27247388.
- Kwilasz AJ, Grace PM, Serbedzija P, Maier SF, Watkins LR. The therapeutic potential of interleukin-10 in neuroimmune diseases. Neuropharmacology 96(Pt A):55-69, 2015. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25446571.
- Grace PM, Shimizu K, Strand KA, Rice KC, Deng G, Watkins LR, Herson PS. (+)-Naltrexone is neuroprotective and promotes alternative activation in the mouse hippocampus after cardiac arrest/cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Brain Behav Immun 48:115-22, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25774010.
- Selfridge BR, Wang X, Zhang Y, Yin H, Grace PM, Watkins LR, Jacobson AE, Rice KC. Structure-Activity Relationships of (+)-Naltrexone-Inspired Toll-like Receptor 4 (TLR4) Antagonists. J Med Chem 58(12):5038-52, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26010811.
- Galer EL, Grace PM. Reactive aldehydes: a new player in inflammatory pain. Ann Transl Med 3(Suppl 1):S23, 2015. PMID: 26046069.
- Grace PM, Maier SF, Watkins LR. Opioid-induced central immune signaling: implications for opioid analgesia. Headache 55(4):475-89, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 25833219.
- Griggs RB, Donahue RR, Morgenweck J, Grace PM, Sutton A, Watkins LR, Taylor BK. Pioglitazone rapidly reduces neuropathic pain through astrocyte and nongenomic PPARγ mechanisms. Pain 156(3):469-82, 2015. PMID: 25599238.
- Grace PM, Ramos KM, Rodgers KM, Wang X, Hutchinson MR, Lewis MT, Morgan KN, Kroll JL, Taylor FR, Strand KA, Zhang Y, Berkelhammer D, Huey MG, Greene LI, Cochran TA, Yin H, Barth DS, Johnson KW, Rice KC, Maier SF, Watkins LR. Activation of adult rat CNS endothelial cells by opioid-induced toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) signaling induces proinflammatory, biochemical, morphological, and behavioral sequelae. Neuroscience 280:299-317, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25241065.
- Narayan DS, Casson RJ, Ebneter A, Chidlow G, Grace PM, Hutchinson MR, Wood JP. Immune priming and experimental glaucoma: the effect of prior systemic lipopolysaccharide challenge on tissue outcomes after optic nerve injury. Clin Exp Ophthalmol 42(6):539-54, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24373007.
- Grace PM, Hutchinson MR, Maier SF, Watkins LR. Pathological pain and the neuroimmune interface. Nat Rev Immunol 14(4):217-31, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24577438.
- Grace PM, Strand KA, Maier SF, Watkins LR. Suppression of voluntary wheel running in rats is dependent on the site of inflammation: evidence for voluntary running as a measure of hind paw-evoked pain. J Pain 15(2):121-8, 2014. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24287315.
- Nicotra L, Tuke J, Grace PM, Rolan PE, Hutchinson MR. Sex differences in mechanical allodynia: how can it be preclinically quantified and analyzed?. Front Behav Neurosci 8:40, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 24592221.
- Wang X, Grace PM, Pham MN, Cheng K, Strand KA, Smith C, Li J, Watkins LR, Yin H. Rifampin inhibits Toll-like receptor 4 signaling by targeting myeloid differentiation protein 2 and attenuates neuropathic pain. FASEB J 27(7):2713-22, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23568774.
- Kwok YH, Tuke J, Nicotra LL, Grace PM, Rolan PE, Hutchinson MR. TLR 2 and 4 responsiveness from isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells from rats and humans as potential chronic pain biomarkers. PLoS One 8(10):e77799, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24204973.
- Loram LC, Grace PM, Strand KA, Taylor FR, Ellis A, Berkelhammer D, Bowlin M, Skarda B, Maier SF, Watkins LR. Prior exposure to repeated morphine potentiates mechanical allodynia induced by peripheral inflammation and neuropathy. Brain Behav Immun 26(8):1256-64, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22902523.
- Grace PM, Hurley D, Barratt DT, Tsykin A, Watkins LR, Rolan PE, Hutchinson MR. Harnessing pain heterogeneity and RNA transcriptome to identify blood-based pain biomarkers: a novel correlational study design and bioinformatics approach in a graded chronic constriction injury model. J Neurochem 122(5):976-94, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22697386.
- Grace PM, Rolan PE, Hutchinson MR. Peripheral immune contributions to the maintenance of central glial activation underlying neuropathic pain. Brain Behav Immun 25(7):1322-32, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21496480.
- Hutchinson MR, Shavit Y, Grace PM, Rice KC, Maier SF, Watkins LR. Exploring the neuroimmunopharmacology of opioids: an integrative review of mechanisms of central immune signaling and their implications for opioid analgesia. Pharmacol Rev 63(3):772-810, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21752874.
- Grace PM, Hutchinson MR, Bishop A, Somogyi AA, Mayrhofer G, Rolan PE. Adoptive transfer of peripheral immune cells potentiates allodynia in a graded chronic constriction injury model of neuropathic pain. Brain Behav Immun 25(3):503-13, 2011. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 21134441.
- Grace PM, Stanford T, Gentgall M, Rolan PE. Utility of saccadic eye movement analysis as an objective biomarker to detect the sedative interaction between opioids and sleep deprivation in opioid-naive and opioid-tolerant populations. J Psychopharmacol 24(11):1631-40, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20142307.
- Grace PM, Hutchinson MR, Manavis J, Somogyi AA, Rolan PE. A novel animal model of graded neuropathic pain: utility to investigate mechanisms of population heterogeneity. J Neurosci Methods 193(1):47-53, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20817038.
Other Articles
- Grace PM Do opioids make pain worse?. The conversation, 2016.
- Grace PM Learning the lesson of networking. Science 352(6286):738, 2016. PMID: 27151872.
Editorials
- Galer EL, Grace PM. Reactice aldehydes: A new player in inflammatory pain. Ann Transl Med Suppl 1(S23), 2015.
- Grace PM. The anatomical distribution of trigeminal neuralgia: a perspective and future directions. Anesth Pain Med 1(3):212-3, 2012. PMID: 24904801.
Book Chapters
- Grace PM, Watkins LR, Hutchinson MR. Immune to brain communication in pain: historical perspectives, new directions. In: The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Psychoneuroimmunology. Wiley-Blackwell: Chinchester, UK, 176-97, 2014.
- Grace PM, Watkins LR, Hutchinson MR. The role of the immune system in chronic pain comorbidities. In: Pain Comorbidities: Understanding and Treating the Complex Patient. IASP Press: Seattle, WA, 2012.
Grant & Contract Support
| Title: | Identification of Causes and Treatments for Chronic Pain in a Model of Gulf War Illness |
| Funding Source: | Department of Defense (DOD) |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Rescuing Our Warriors from Chronic Pain: A Battlefield-to-Nondeployment Means to Prevent Opioid-induced Amplification of Neuropathic Pain from Traumatic Injury |
| Funding Source: | University of Colorado |
| Role: | Principal Investigator-MDACC |
| Title: | Targeting Neuropathic Pain Prevention: Modulating the Neuroimmunology of Peripheral Nerve Injury |
| Funding Source: | University of Colorado |
| Role: | Principal Investigator-MDACC |
| Title: | Rising STARs Award |
| Funding Source: | University of Texas System |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Start-up Funds |
| Funding Source: | University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Fc gammaR-signaling mechanisms underlying chemotherapy-induced neurpathic pain |
| Funding Source: | Institutional Research Grant Program |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |
| Title: | Uncovering microglial function in supraspinal brain regions by chemogenetics: implications for the sensory and affective components of neuropathic pain |
| Funding Source: | National Natural Science Foundation of China |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |