What a fun and exciting day for the Pain Innovations Research Laboratory (PIRL) at UF Price Pain Research Day 2026! The event highlighted the incredible breadth of pain research taking place across the University of Florida and brought together expert researchers in pain from across the university to share the work they are currently conducting, exchange ideas, and foster collaboration.
Price Pain Research Day also provided an important opportunity to hear directly from lived-experience experts who shared their personal journeys with chronic pain. Their stories brought a meaningful patient perspective to the research being presented and served as an important reminder of the people behind the science. The event created opportunities for networking, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas—all working toward expanding our collective knowledge of pain and advancing the hope for a future with less pain.
We are especially proud to congratulate April Hardison, CVT, who earned first place in the Preclinical Research Poster Competition while representing PIRL and presenting the laboratory’s research titled, “Exploratory Evaluation of Encapsulated Kratom Using Multimodal Quantitative Sensory Testing in Dogs.”
This PIRL study evaluated the effects of oral encapsulated kratom in healthy dogs and compared its effects with intramuscular buprenorphine, a commonly used opioid analgesic, as well as placebo. The research used multimodal quantitative sensory testing to evaluate changes in sensory responses following each treatment.
The findings provide evidence that orally administered kratom containing mitragynine produces measurable analgesic effects in dogs, with the clearest effects observed through electrical quantitative sensory testing. Compared with buprenorphine, kratom was also associated with less pronounced sedation and fewer observed adverse effects in this study.
Congratulations to April on this well-deserved recognition and for representing the Pain Innovations Research Laboratory and the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine at Price Pain Research Day!
A special thank you to the UF Pain Research and Intervention Center of Excellence Clinical and Translational Science Institute for their hospitality and for an amazingly inspiring day filled with meaningful research, connection, and opportunities to learn from one another.
We are incredibly proud of April and excited to have PIRL’s research recognized among the outstanding pain research taking place across the University of Florida.
