Andrea Gail Nackley PhD

Andrea Gail Nackley, Ph.D. an Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology’s Center for Translational Pain Medicine (CTPM) and the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University. Nackley earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and Biology from Virginia Polytechnic University in 1997 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Neuroscience from the University of Georgia in 2003. Nackley then completed a Post-doctoral fellowship in the area of Pain Genetics in the Center for Pain Research and Innovation at the University of North Carolina. In 2006, Nackley received an NIH Roadmap award which promotes multidisciplinary clinical research. Through this program, Nackley was able to work alongside prominent pain clinicians to gain training and experience in human pain phenotyping, clinical exams, and clinical epidemiology. These early experiences in pain neurobiology, molecular genetics, and clinical epidemiology provided the foundation for Andrea's bedside-to-bench and bench-to-bedside translational approach to the study of chronic pain.

Andrea's lab conducts translational research in patients and mouse models to better understand and treat chronic functional pain conditions, such as fibromyalgia, temporomandibular disorder, and vulvodynia. Our research is focused on 3 areas: 1) Identifying genetic, biological, and environmental factors associated with the initial onset of functional pain as well as its severity, duration, and response to treatments. 2) Determining the basic mechanism(s) whereby genetic, biological, and environmental factors drive chronic functional pain. 3) Improving management of chronic functional pain through evidence-based individually-tailored pharmacologic and complimentary regimens as well as the development of safe new analgesic regimens.