Dr Charles Berde: developing algae-based pain relief

Researchers have long searched for an alternative to opioids for pain relief, with few results so far. But that might all be about to change. Dr Charles Berde and his colleagues have been working with teams in the US, Chile and New Zealand for more than 10 years to develop a local anaesthetic made from neosaxitoxin, an algae-derived pain medication with the power to replace opioids. With no known side effects or addictive properties, neosaxitoxin has the potential to revolutionise post-operative pain relief.

Dr Charles Berde is a senior associate in Pain Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital and Professor of Anaesthesia at Harvard Medical School. He will be the keynote speaker at the 78th Annual Thomas Cawthron Memorial Lecture on Tuesday 19 October. Register to attend online at cawthron.live