FPM Fellows & Trainees

Dr Natalie Morellini
The Churack Chair Post-doctoral Fellow

I have always had a passion for neuroscience, in particular in nerve injury, regeneration and pain. In 2010, I completed a PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Western Australia. In my project, I investigated therapeutic strategies to improve wound healing and nerve regeneration following a burn injury. After my PhD, I received an amazing opportunity to work in Paris as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie for three years. Here, I conducted research into the aging brain, and how to prevent degeneration. In 2015, I moved back to Australia to take up a position at Murdoch University, where I started research into the sympathetic nervous system and its role in chronic pain. In 2017, I was awarded with the Churack Chair Post-doctoral Fellowship at The University of Notre Dame to continue this work. This position has given me a great opportunity to research the mechanisms behind chronic pain, so that we can develop treatments to improve quality of life of people who suffer from chronic pain.