Draft:Catherine M. Cahill

Catherine Cahill is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research focuses on how chronic pain states modulate reward circuitry and change dopaminergic transmission responsible for motivated behavior.

Early life and education
Catherine Cahill received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Mount Allison University (1987) and then completed her Masters of Science and PhD in the Department of Pharmacology from Dalhousie University (1996) under Dr. Jana Sawynok.

Research and career
Dr. Cahill's research investigates how chronic pain can alter specific brain regions associated with emotion, fear, and motivation, and neural plasticity that occurs due to persistent pain and opioid use. Her research is a part of a National Institutes of Health Funded Center of Excellence on Opioid Research and Drug Addiction (CSORDA). In addition, her research is funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, the National Institute of Aging, the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, the Department of Defense and the Shirley and Stefan Hatos Foundation.

Honors and awards
Cahill has received an Excellence in Tutoring Award from Harvard Medical School (2010) and the Ronald Melzack Pain Research Award (1998). Along with these, she received the Basmajian Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research Award (2007), the Environment of Inquiry Award from University of California Irvine (2014), the Hugill Anesthesiology Award from University of Alberta (2016), and the Junior Investigator Award from Canadian Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (2009).