Catherine Marie Cahill

Dr. Catherine Cahill is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). With over 30 years of expertise in opioid neuropharmacology and chronic pain mechanisms, she previously held a Canada Research Chair at Queen’s University and served at UC Irvine before joining UCLA in 2017.

• BSc in Chemistry, Mount Allison University (1987)
• MSc in Pharmacology, Dalhousie University (1992)
• PhD in Pharmacology, Dalhousie University (1996)

Her research focuses on allostatic changes in chronic pain, opioid addiction vulnerability, and cannabis-based pain therapies. Key findings include the role of kappa opioid receptors in pain aversion and microglial activation in pain-addiction comorbidity.

Recent work examines opioid-receptor heteromer dynamics, omega-3 fatty acids in addiction, and GPCR interactome mapping. Her publications span Nature, Neuron, and Nature Neuroscience, with over 8,500 citations and an h-index of 49.

• 2024 Outstanding Research Mentor Award, UCLA
• 2023 Editor Performance Award, British Journal of Pharmacology
• 2022 Undergraduate Research Week Faculty Mentor Award, UCLA
• 2003-2012 Canada Research Chair in Chronic Pain

Dr. Cahill leads NIH-funded projects (P50, R01, UH3/U01) and serves on NIH grant review panels. She directs the Cahill Pain and Addiction Lab and contributes to international conferences and editorial boards.