News Archive, 1999 - 2020

Collaboration Comes to Life at MPower Day

March 18, 2019

University of Maryland School of Nursing student Chika Okusogu, also a UM Scholar, participates in a demonstration conducted by Sarah B. Murthi, MD, associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a trauma surgeon at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. Murthi is part of a team studying the use of virtual reality in medicine.

University of Maryland School of Nursing student Chika Okusogu, a UM Scholar, shared with expo visitors his excitement of working with Associate Professor Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS, in what’s become known as the “Colloca Lab,” as she explores the role of the placebo in pain management.

“While we may have this perception that it (opioid addiction) is an issue of morale or character, it really is an issue of we don't understand how pain works as well as we should,” Okusogu said. “Pain is a universal experience that is incredibly subjective. For some reason, even though each and every one of us in this room will feel pain at some point in our lives, we tolerate it differently. I feel like the work I’ve done in the Colloca Lab, whether it is through using virtual reality to help modulate pain or using placebo effect to also treat pain, that is also not only cost-effective, but also doesn't have major side effects or potential toxicities, are all attempts to help make a universal common issue more approachable and manageable for each and every one of us in this room.”

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