Rate My Professor Maria Maiarù

Dr. Maria Maiarù serves as Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Pain Research in the Department of Pharmacology within the School of Pharmacy at the University of Reading. Her research centers on elucidating the mechanisms of persistent pain states and developing innovative tools and pharmacological agents to alleviate chronic pain. Primary interests encompass chronic pain pathways, neuroinflammation, and novel therapeutic strategies including psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin and LSD, as well as engineered botulinum toxin constructs. She investigates the analgesic potential of psychedelics in preclinical pain models, assessing their effects on both sensory and affective pain dimensions through behavioral assays and molecular analyses. Additional projects examine psychedelic modulation of glial cell activation in neuroinflammation contexts, particularly chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), employing in vitro and in vivo methodologies in collaboration with experts like Dr. Mark Dallas. Her work also advances botulinum-based approaches to selectively silence spinal pain-signaling neurons, targeting neuropathic, inflammatory, and CIPN conditions.

Maiarù has secured substantial research funding, including nearly £100,000 from the Royal Society in 2023 to explore psilocybin's mechanisms in chronic pain relief over two years, and a UKRI grant in 2026 as lead investigator for stem cell therapies in immunology and neuroscience. She led the University of Reading's involvement in a 2023 study demonstrating promise for modified Botox in long-term nerve pain management. Key publications highlight her contributions: "The stress regulator FKBP51 drives chronic pain by modulating spinal glucocorticoid signaling" (Science Translational Medicine, 2016); "Autophagy impairment in a mouse model of neuropathic pain" (Molecular Pain, 2011); "The stress regulator FKBP51: a novel and promising druggable target for the treatment of persistent pain states across sexes" (Pain, 2018); "Selective neuronal silencing using synthetic botulinum molecules alleviates chronic pain in mice" (Science Translational Medicine, 2018); and "Substance P-Botulinum mediates long-term silencing of pain hypersensitivity" (The Journal of Pain, 2024). These works have illuminated epigenetic regulators and molecular targets in pain, impacting therapeutic innovation. Maiarù supervises doctoral research in physiology and pharmacology, fostering advancements in pain science.