APS2024: Annual Scientific Meeting Travel Grant Recipient Report

Crystal Li

Crystal is a PhD candidate in the Department of Neuroscience at Monash University. Her research is centred on exploring the role of the cerebellum in pain processing, especially within females.

Author contact details:
crystal.li@monash.edu
X/Twitter: @LiCrystal_

Crocodiles and karaoke, what more could we ask for?

Year after year, APS continues to impress. This time, crocodiles made it into the program! It was my third APS meeting, and it is always one of the highlights of my year. The atmosphere was welcoming and jovial, and I walked away with stimulating insights into different fields of pain research, adventurous ideas for my own research, and many words of wisdom applicable to both my personal and professional life.

The APS Travel Grant funded my visit up north to Darwin, where I was given the opportunity to present my poster to the conference attendees. My research characterised changes in the cerebellum within a preclinical model of chronic neuropathic pain in adolescent female rats. We presented some exciting preliminary evidence showing changes to inhibitory neurotransmission and Purkinje cell density in the cerebellum that was associated with behavioural allodynia to cold stimuli. Despite the large proportion of clinicians and clinical researchers at the meeting, it was great to see that my preclinical work still attracted interest from both new and familiar faces.

The Trainee Session is always a worthwhile event which provides the perfect opportunity for meeting some of the powerhouse leaders in the field, and this year was no exception. Here I had the chance to meet Professor Cheryl Stucky, who kindly offered many encouraging and inspirational words to trainees, which I will certainly leverage to see out the many remaining hurdles I anticipate in my PhD.

As per usual, it’s a refreshing experience to catch up with all my interstate connections at APS, and I keenly await the next APS meeting (especially the post-Gala karaoke) in Melbourne!

Declaration: Crystal Li has nothing to declare.