My Expertise
Expertise:
I am a research-focused academic at the Translational Neuroscience Facility, School of Medical Sciences. I am interested in neuroimmune interactions in health and disease, particularly in neuropathic pain, a form of chronic pain caused by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory nervous system. My goal is to identify targets and mechanisms for reducing pain and disability through immunomodulation and neuromodulation. I have collaborations with academics, clinicians, and industry partners across NSW, Australia, and internationally.
Current research focuses on the role of immune cells and their mediators (e.g. cytokines) in neuropathic pain caused by peripheral nerve injury, autoimmune diseases of the nervous system such as multiple sclerosis, and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.
Approaches:
- Animal models of nervous system injury/disease associated with neuropathic pain (peripheral neuropathy, multiple sclerosis).
- Using anti-inflammatory mediators and immune cell therapies in vivo.
- In vitro culture systems of dorsal root ganglion (DRG) sensory neurons, microglia, and regulatory T cells.
- Various molecular, biochemical, histological, microscopy, and imaging techniques.
Impact:
- Understanding the role of neuroinflammation in chronic pain conditions.
- Testing of neuroprotective candidate drugs for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.
- Developing novel immunotherapeutic approaches for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and neuropathic pain.
Keywords
Fields of Research (FoR)
Neurosciences, Peripheral nervous system, Central nervous system, Cellular immunology, PainSEO tags
Biography
Moalem-Taylor graduated with a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. She was then awarded a Rothschild Postdoctoral Fellowship, carried out at The University of Cincinnati Medical Centre (USA). She then moved to the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia, where she was awarded the Vice-Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship (2004-2007), followed by the NSW Office of Science and Medical Research Career Development...view more
Moalem-Taylor graduated with a PhD from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. She was then awarded a Rothschild Postdoctoral Fellowship, carried out at The University of Cincinnati Medical Centre (USA). She then moved to the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia, where she was awarded the Vice-Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship (2004-2007), followed by the NSW Office of Science and Medical Research Career Development Fellowship (2010-2013). In 2014, she was appointed as a combined track (teaching & research) academic in the Department of Physiology, where she leads the Neuropathic Pain Research Group at the Translational Neuroscience Facility, School of Biomedical Sciences, UNSW. Since her PhD, Moalem-Taylor has worked primarily in the field of neuroimmunology. Her current research focuses on the role of immune cells and their mediators in chronic pain caused by peripheral nerve injury, autoimmune diseases of the nervous system such as multiple sclerosis, and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. She manages a team of postdocs, undergraduate research students (Honours), and PhD students. She is also the Postgraduate Coordinator at the School of Biomedical Sciences.
My Grants
- NHMRC Project Grant (ID # APP1162060) “Targets and mechanisms in reducing neuropathic pain through immunomodulatory treatments" - Moalem-Taylor G & Butovsky Oleg. $927,520 (2019-2023)
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NHMRC Ideas Grant (ID # APP1187416). “A novel approach for peripheral neuromodulation: Using ionic direct current to treat chronic pain" Moalem-Taylor G., Aplin F., Potas J., & Fridman G. $732,693.60 (2020-2023)
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UNSW Medicine Neuroscience, Mental Health and Addictions Theme and SPHERE Clinical Academic Group Seed Grant – “Nanoconjugates for treating neuropathic pain in an animal model of multiple sclerosis” Moalem-Taylor Gila, Mao Guangzhao and Pascal Carrive (CIs) Housley and Krishnan (AIs) $80,000 (2022-2023)
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MS Australia – “Nanoconjugates for treating neuropathic pain in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal model of MS” Moalem-Taylor Gila, Mao Guangzhao and Pascal Carrive (CIs) Housley, Potas and Krishnan (AIs) $250,000 (2023-2025).
My Qualifications
- PhD in Neurobiology (Graduated 2001, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel). Thesis: T cell immune response in the injured central nervous system.
My Awards
- 2017 UNSW Arc Postgraduate Supervisor Award for excellence in postgraduate research supervision
- 2018 SoMS Award for Higher Degree Research Supervision
- 2018 SoMS Citation Classic Award for three papers that received 50 or more citations over any consecutive 5 years
- 2020 Researcher of the Year Award – SoMS Dec 2020
- 2021 Mid-Career Award - “We are Neuroimmunology” Mid-Career International Society of Neuroimmunology (ISNI) award
My Research Activities
As CIA I lead NHMRC grants on preclinical studies in neuropathic pain.
My Research Supervision
Supervision keywords
Areas of supervision
I supervise PhD, Masters, Honours and Independent Learning Project students undertaking research in the areas of neuroimmunology and chronic pain.
Currently supervising
I currently supervise several PhD and Honours student projects focusing on:
- Investigating the effects of regulatory T cells and anti-inflammatory cytokines (e.g. IL-35) on glial cell regulation in mouse models of neuropathic pain.
- Investigating sensory neuron and immune/glial cell interactions using in vitro primary cell cultures.
- Novel Neuromodulation approaches to block pain transmission.
- Neuron-targeted nanoconjugates for modulating pain behaviours (with Prof Mao, UNSW).
My Teaching
- Co-convenor of the course NEUR3221 – Neurophysiology
- Postgraduate Coordinator, School of Medical Sciences.
Location
Map reference (Google map)
Contact
Publications
ORCID as entered in ROS
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3828-9527
Research Activities
The aims of this research are to assess the effects of immune modulation by inducing immune tolerance and manipulating regulatory T cells on pain behaviours following nervous system injury. This study promises to significantly enhance our understanding of the immunological mechanisms underlying neuropathic pain and thereby offers hope for new approaches to therapeutic intervention.
Peripheral nerve injury often results in persistent and debilitating neuropathic pain. My overall objective is to understand the immunological mechanisms responsible for such pain. I plan to test the hypothesis that the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-17 promotes neuroinflammation and contributes to increased pain sensitivity after nerve injury. This study promises to enhance our understanding of neuroimmune activation in neuropathic pain and offers new opportunities for pain management.
Chronic pain is a common debilitating symptom affecting between 50% and 80% of MS patients. However, despite its widespread occurrence, chronic pain is a rarely studied symptom of this disease. The pathology of MS is largely attributed to self-reactive T cells recognising myelin antigen that penetrate the blood-brain barrier, become activated in the central nervous system, and orchestrate a cascade of events including chronic inflammation, primary demyelination, and axonal damage. Interestingly, T cells have been found to play a pivotal role in mediating chronic pain…
This research grant is a trans-Tasman collaboration between Australian researchers (Dr Moalem-Taylor and Dr Gorrie) and New Zealand researchers (Prof Green, Prof Nicholson and Dr O’Carroll), and brings together experts in spinal cord injury, neuropathic pain, gap junction modulation and neurodegenerative disease.
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