Contact Information:
Date Joined Lab
October 2023
Background and Interests
Richard is a senior undergraduate at Duke majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Art History. He was inspired to study chronic pain when working with patients suffering from chronic somatization symptoms in a psychiatric clinic. He joined the Nackley Lab in July 2023 and focused on the effects of microRNA-133a downregulation in white adipose tissue on the expression of its binding partners in the spinal cord, which are important mediators of pain signaling and central sensitization. Through this project, Richard hopes to explore the crosstalk between the peripheral and the central nervous systems, specifically how peripheral tissues contribute to the expression of pain-related genes in the CNS. After graduating from Duke, Richard hopes to pursue further research experiences in the pain field in an MD/PhD program.
In his free time, he loves tea genuinely. He leads a tea club called Duke CommuniTEA and shows up to brew tea for people every Wednesday at Duke Wellness Center. He also loves horror movies. You can catch him listening to horror stories while walking to classroom every morning. He is also a Canto-pop fan and enjoys old Hong Kong pop songs from the 80s.
Awards and Recognitions
Richard Gao, an international student majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Art History, was featured in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience’s Student Spotlight. His research explores pain through both scientific and artistic lenses, focusing on Chronic Primary Pain Conditions and late 20th-century Chinese performance art. March 18, 2024