Innovator of the Week: Dr. Ketul Patel, recipient of the Mitacs Award for Outstanding Innovation

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More than 30 percent of Canadians suffer from chronic pain, for which opioids are currently the only effective treatment. However, there is hope on the horizon thanks to some innovative research by Dr. Ketul Patel, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Calgary's Faculty of Science.

The Mitacs Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Innovation, presented annually by Mitacs, a national innovation organization, recognizes outstanding contributions to Canadian research and innovation. Dr. Patel received the award at the end of 2023 in recognition of his work in finding a new, non-addictive treatment for chronic pain. “This is a great achievement and a great honor in my life,” says Dr. Patel. “It's like a dream come true for me.”

According to Dr. Patel, the current problem with prescribing opioids for chronic pain is that patients can develop drug addiction and opioid tolerance. “It's really scary because once they stop the medication, if they want to start again, they're going to need a higher dose of opioids.”

The small molecule that Dr. Patel successfully identified targets a newly discovered pain-relieving pathway that relieves pain without the unpleasant side effects associated with opioids. Dr. Patel is currently working with Zymedyne Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company in Calgary, to collect toxicology data on the development of this drug. Zymedyne will help Dr. Patel increase funding for clinical trials, bringing him one step closer to commercializing this unique, safe and non-addictive drug for the treatment of neuropathic pain and effectively providing pain relief to patients. treatment of pain without the risk of developing drug addiction.

“If our drug makes it to market, it will give patients the choice to take non-opioid medications for their chronic pain,” says Dr. Patel.