Clifford Woolf

Clifford Woolf, MB, BCh, PhD

Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School
617-919-2393

Clifford Woolf, MB, BCh, PhD – Faculty Profile

If you prefer, you can view the visual layout directly on Canva: Clifford Woolf – Faculty Profile by Neuro Coordinator (opens in a new window).

Title: Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School.

The Aim

The Woolf Lab investigates how nerve cell plasticity enables adaptation or leads to chronic pain and nerve damage, aiming to discover new therapies for neurological diseases.

The Impact

The Woolf Lab studies how pain perception occurs by examining how the nervous system adapts to injury or situations of chronic pain. By exploring how sensory and motor neurons respond to injury, inflammation, and disease, the lab seeks to discover new ways to treat pain, promote nerve repair, and protect brain and nerve function. Their work paves the way for innovative therapies for neurological diseases by identifying the genes and signals that control how neurons grow and survive.

A Closer Look

Article: Pain Points , Harvard Medical School, July 2017. This article profiles Clifford Woolf’s quest to understand pain as both protection and disease, highlighting his optogenetics research showing that tiny pain signals can trigger rapid, complex whole‑body responses.

Article: Startup launches to tackle cough, itch, pain , Harvard Office of Technology Development, April 2019. The piece describes how Nocion Therapeutics, co‑founded by Clifford Woolf and Bruce Bean, is developing targeted, non‑opioid drugs that selectively silence overactive neurons driving cough, itch, and pain.

Contact

Email: clifford.woolf@childrens.harvard.edu
Lab website: kirbyneuro.org/WoolfLab/

Publications View
Neurogenic inflammation and the peripheral nervous system in host defense and immunopathology.
Authors: Authors: Chiu IM, von Hehn CA, Woolf CJ.
Nat Neurosci
View full abstract on Pubmed
5,6-EET is released upon neuronal activity and induces mechanical pain hypersensitivity via TRPA1 on central afferent terminals.
Authors: Authors: Sisignano M, Park CK, Angioni C, Zhang DD, von Hehn C, Cobos EJ, Ghasemlou N, Xu ZZ, Kumaran V, Lu R, Grant A, Fischer MJ, Schmidtko A, Reeh P, Ji RR, Woolf CJ, Geisslinger G, Scholich K, Brenneis C.
J Neurosci
View full abstract on Pubmed
Understanding chronic inflammatory and neuropathic pain.
Authors: Authors: Hughes JP, Chessell I, Malamut R, Perkins M, Backonja M, Baron R, Farrar JT, Field MJ, Gereau RW, Gilron I, McMahon SB, Porreca F, Rappaport BA, Rice F, Richman LK, Segerdahl M, Seminowicz DA, Watkins LR, Waxman SG, Wiech K, Woolf C.
Ann N Y Acad Sci
View full abstract on Pubmed
Inflammation-induced decrease in voluntary wheel running in mice: a nonreflexive test for evaluating inflammatory pain and analgesia.
Authors: Authors: Cobos EJ, Ghasemlou N, Araldi D, Segal D, Duong K, Woolf CJ.
Pain
View full abstract on Pubmed
Genetically determined P2X7 receptor pore formation regulates variability in chronic pain sensitivity.
Authors: Authors: Sorge RE, Trang T, Dorfman R, Smith SB, Beggs S, Ritchie J, Austin JS, Zaykin DV, Vander Meulen H, Costigan M, Herbert TA, Yarkoni-Abitbul M, Tichauer D, Livneh J, Gershon E, Zheng M, Tan K, John SL, Slade GD, Jordan J, Woolf CJ, Peltz G, Maixner W, Diatchenko L, Seltzer Z, Salter MW, Mogil JS.
Nat Med
View full abstract on Pubmed
Deconstructing the neuropathic pain phenotype to reveal neural mechanisms.
Authors: Authors: von Hehn CA, Baron R, Woolf CJ.
Neuron
View full abstract on Pubmed
Analgesia by inhibiting tetrahydrobiopterin synthesis.
Authors: Authors: Costigan M, Latremoliere A, Woolf CJ.
Curr Opin Pharmacol
View full abstract on Pubmed
Construction of a global pain systems network highlights phospholipid signaling as a regulator of heat nociception.
Authors: Authors: Neely GG, Rao S, Costigan M, Mair N, Racz I, Milinkeviciute G, Meixner A, Nayanala S, Griffin RS, Belfer I, Dai F, Smith S, Diatchenko L, Marengo S, Haubner BJ, Novatchkova M, Gibson D, Maixner W, Pospisilik JA, Hirsch E, Whishaw IQ, Zimmer A, Gupta V, Sasaki J, Kanaho Y, Sasaki T, Kress M, Woolf CJ, Penninger JM.
PLoS Genet
View full abstract on Pubmed
The BMP coreceptor RGMb promotes while the endogenous BMP antagonist noggin reduces neurite outgrowth and peripheral nerve regeneration by modulating BMP signaling.
Authors: Authors: Ma CH, Brenner GJ, Omura T, Samad OA, Costigan M, Inquimbert P, Niederkofler V, Salie R, Sun CC, Lin HY, Arber S, Coppola G, Woolf CJ, Samad TA.
J Neurosci
View full abstract on Pubmed
Accelerating axonal growth promotes motor recovery after peripheral nerve injury in mice.
Authors: Authors: Ma CH, Omura T, Cobos EJ, Latrémolière A, Ghasemlou N, Brenner GJ, van Veen E, Barrett L, Sawada T, Gao F, Coppola G, Gertler F, Costigan M, Geschwind D, Woolf CJ.
J Clin Invest
View full abstract on Pubmed