Caroline Kopruszinski
Caroline Machado Kopruszinski, PhD, is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Arizona. Her research focuses on the neurobiological mechanisms that drive headache, migraine chronification, post-traumatic headache, and chronic pain, with a particular emphasis on sex differences in pain susceptibility.
Dr. Kopruszinski’s laboratory investigates peripheral and central signaling pathways, including neuropeptides, immune mediators, and neuroendocrine factors, that modulate sensory neuron excitability, trigeminal pain processing, and headache chronification. Her work uses translational preclinical models along with behavioral, electrophysiological, molecular, and pharmacological approaches to identify mechanisms underlying migraine, post-traumatic headache, orofacial pain, and other chronic pain disorders.
By integrating findings from preclinical models with human samples and tissues, her research aims to identify novel therapeutic targets and advance precision medicine strategies to manage pain conditions and prevent pain chronification.
Degrees
- BS, Pharmacy Science, Campos de Andrade University Center (UNIANDRADE), Brazil, 2010
- MS, Pharmacology, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Brazil, 2012
- PhD, Medical Pharmacology, Visiting Scholar, University of Arizona, 2015
- PhD, Pharmacology, Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Brazil, 2016
Work Experience
- Research Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology, University of Arizona
- Research Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Arizona
- Research Assistant Professor, Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, University of Arizona
- Research Assistant Professor, Comprehensive Center for Pain & Addiction, University of Arizona
Awards
- Recipient, U.S. Department of Defense CDMRP Award (PR230220), U.S. Department of Defense, 2023-2025
- Recipient, Frontiers in Headache Research Scholarship, American Headache Society Annual Meeting, American Headache Society, 2022
- Honorable Mention, University of Arizona Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar Award, University of Arizona, 2021
- Recipient, Amgen Competitive Program in Migraine Research Award, Principal Investigator, Amgen, 2020-2022
- IHS Financial Travel Grant Award, 19th Congress of the International Headache Society, Dublin, Ireland, 2019
- Recipient, Frontiers in Headache Research Scholarship, American Headache Society Annual Meeting, American Headache Society, 2019
- Recipient, AstraZeneca Internal Postdoctoral Project and Scholarship Award, 2017
- IASP Financial Travel Grant Award, 16th World Congress on Pain, Yokohama-Kanto, Japan, 2015
- IASP Financial Travel Grant Award, 15th World Congress on Pain, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2014
- Recipient, Doctoral Exchange Scholarship, Federal University of Paraná/University of Arizona, CAPES, 2014
- Recipient, Best Poster Award, NeuPSIG International Congress of Neuropathic Pain, 2013
Teaching Interests
Translational pain research, migraine and headache neurobiology, orofacial pain, chronic pain mechanisms, sex differences in pain susceptibility, animal behavior, experimental surgical approaches, and molecular and pharmacological methods used to study pain modulation.
Research Interests
Migraine, headache, and orofacial pain neurobiology; chronic pain mechanisms; trigeminal pain processing; sex differences in pain susceptibility; post-traumatic headache; migraine chronification; neuropeptides; immune mediators; neuroendocrine factors; sensory neuron excitability; translational preclinical models of migraine, headache, orofacial pain, and extracephalic pain; animal behavior; ex vivo functional studies of trigeminal neurons; molecular and pharmacological approaches to pain modulation.