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Spinal substantia gelatinosa (SG) is an important element in the system of antinociception. However, little is known about major types of ion channels specifically expressed in SG neurons as well as their synaptic connections, forms of spontaneous and induced plasticity and the types of neurons serving as specific postsynaptic targets for opioid action within this region. To better understand how nociceptive information is processed within the superficial dorsal horn, a novel approach was implemented. This work was carried out for almost a decade and became a reference in the area. This functional study of the signalling within the SG network was awarded with the Grunenthal Pain Price and published in five different specialized journals. Those publications are presented and discussed by the author in her PhD thesis.

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Sónia Santos is a neurologist, biologist and PhD in Neuroscience.She was invited to join the Faculty of Medicine of Oporto in 2007, as a Professor. She has received several merit scholarships and several awards for her research work in the area of Pain, using patch clamp recording techniques, anatomical processing and computer simulations.

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