Searching for safer pain medications

The ongoing opioid epidemic in the United States presents scientists with a multifaceted challenge to find ways to cure addiction, treat pain without the risks of dependence and to better understand the biochemical factors that lead to addiction.

Thomas Keck, a professor in the departments of Chemistry & Biochemistry and Biological & Biomedical Sciences in the College of Science & Mathematics , is interested in all of these things, especially in formulating new medications.

With support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health , Keck's labs at Rowan University in Glassboro and Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden divide the work.

One section collaborates with medicinal chemists to develop a library of compounds to test as viable molecules for pharmacology or drug development. If a compound has the properties the team seeks, studies move to the second function of the lab: behavioral pharmacology.

Keck says this is where the potential use of a compound to solve problems in a living subject is determined: "We test for functional characteristics of these drug-like molecules to see how they behave in animal models" to potentially treat neuropsychiatric disorders like Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, ADHD, pain, anxiety and drug addiction.

Keck's research includes work with D4 dopamine receptors, which regulate behavior, decision-making and emotion. The study seeks to identify how new medications could impact risk/reward decision-making behaviors associated with some neuropsychological disorders.

The team is also working to create opioid alternatives to treat pain without the risks of addiction.

"I think it'd be rare for anyone to not have somebody in their family or in their lives who hasn't been touched by substance use disorders, broadly speaking, whether it's alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, opioids or psychostimulants," Keck says.

"By the time I retire, I hope that I've contributed to the development of medications that can be treatment options. There's never going to be a pill that will just make an addiction go away, right? But what it could do is make it easier to make healthier decisions every day."

Rowan University researchers are passionate about what they do. Find more at Meet Our Researchers .