Steve Prescott

The Prescott lab studies the neural basis of sensation. They seek to decipher how somatosensory information is normally processed and how disruption of that processing causes chronic pain in order to develop transformative new pain therapies. Reflecting his interdisciplinary training as a clinician, theorist and experimentalist, the Prescott lab synergistically combines computational simulations, machine learning and diverse experimental techniques including in vitro and in vivo electrophysiology, calcium imaging, optogenetics, and behavioral analysis. By pursuing multiple intersecting projects with foci ranging from fundamental processes (e.g. how neurons regulate their excitability) to topics with immediate clinical impact (e.g. how to optimize spinal cord stimulation), the Prescott lab has made important advances in several areas including spiking mechanisms and neural coding, pathological changes in excitability, chloride regulation and synaptic inhibition, theories of somatosensory coding, and new tools in pain research. Of note, the Prescott lab developed RAMalgo, the reproducible automated multimodal algometer, which combined robotics and machine learning to transform how preclinical pain testing is conducted.

Faculty Appointments

Department of Physiology, University of Toronto
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Calgary
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Calgary