Affiliation: University of Arizona College of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology

Dr. Moutal completed his BSc and MSc in Structural and Functional Biochemistry at Claude Bernard University, Lyon 1 in France. He obtained his PhD in Neuro-Oncology under the guidance of Dr. Nicole Thomasset and Pr. Jérôme Honnorat in Lyon in December 2013, where he studied the mechanism of cancer stem cell self-renewal in glioblastoma. He moved to the University of Arizona for a postdoctoral fellowship under the guidance of Dr. Rajesh Khanna. His work focused on the regulation of voltage-gated ion channels (CaV2.2 and NaV1.7) trafficking in chronic pain, for which he obtained the young investigator award from the Children’s Tumor Foundation. This work uncovered novel therapeutic targets for indirect inhibition of these channels in neuropathic pain.

In August 2018, Dr. Moutal obtained a Research Assistant Professor position in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Arizona. His independent is work focused on studying rare autoimmune clinical conditions, to discover novel proteins involved in the transition to chronic pain. His lab uses a variety of in vitro and in vivo approaches, from biochemistry and CRISPR to electrophysiology and pain behavior. The lab is currently funded through the Department of Pharmacology and is expecting major funding from the NIH.