INTiDYN team

Frank L. Rice, PhD

President and Chief Scientist

Dr. Rice has over 35 years of experience in somatosensory system biology beginning with doctoral studies of cerebral cortex development under the mentorship of Dr. Hendrik Van der Loos at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In the mid-1980s, Dr. Rice’s interests shifted to cutaneous innervation beginning with classic reduced-silver preparations which were state-of-the-art at the time and transitioning into multi-label immunochemical assessments during several years as a visiting professor at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. His research has been characterized by extensive collaborations with investigators at over 30 academic centers and pharmaceutical companies. The research has emphasized:

• Multispecies assessments of normal adult and developing innervation. These have included such diverse species as a variety of rodents (including African naked mole-rats), marsupials, carnivores, manatees, monkeys, and humans
• Multimolecular studies of trophic factors that control the development and maintenance of cutaneous innervation. These studies have included the NGF and GDNF families of neurotrophic factors and transforming growth factors
• Multidisease studies in monkeys and humans, and related experimental paradigms in subprimate species. These studies have included postherpetic neuralgia, complex regional pain syndrome, diabetic neuropathy, chemotaxic neuropathy, scleroderma, nerve constriction injury, and inflammation

As a result of this research, Dr. Rice has emerged as one of the world’s leading authorities on skin innervation, vascular organization, and more recently, epidermal chemistry. Major research contributions include:

• The detailed organization of the cutaneous microvasculature and strategic positioning of several associated varieties of vascular sensory and autonomic innervation
• The stratified neurochemical organization among the epidermal kerotinocytes and the likely role of the keratinocytes in sensory processing and integration. These discoveries include the elucidation of endogenous analgesic mechanisms within the keratinocytes
• Detailed elucidation of pathological changes in the chemistry, structure, and distribution of cutaneous innervation, and changes in keratinocyte chemistry associated with human neuropathic pain

Dr. Rice is an adjunct professor in the department of biomedical sciences at the State University of New York at Albany. He was previously a professor in the Center for Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience at Albany Medical College for 33 years and on the faculty of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has a BS in biology from Lebanon Valley College in Annville, PA, and a PhD in anatomy from Johns Hopkins University.

Phillip J. Albrecht, PhD

Vice President and Deputy Chief Scientist

Dr. Albrecht has over 25 years of experience in biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry and academic research settings. During the early 1990s as a member of the neurotoxicology department at Genentech, Inc., Dr. Albrecht performed behavioral and sensory neurotoxicology and safety research studies, monitored contract lab toxicology study reports, and wrote documents in support of FDA submissions.

While conducting dissertation research at Penn State Hershey, Dr. Albrecht was focused on the molecular mechanisms of glial scar formation following disease and trauma. The work included genomic (RNA) and protein characterizations using standard molecular techniques, including extensive immunofluorescent microscope evaluations.

Dr. Albrecht received post-doctoral training at Georgetown University, where he developed a novel in vitro assay of primary fibroblast and astrocyte interaction. Using this model, investigations of the molecular mechanisms of scar formation were conducted, including multi-label immunochemical assessments of the Eph/ephrin signaling system.

In 2003, Dr. Albrecht relocated to Albany where he received additional training at the Center for Neuropharmacology and Neuroscience (CNN), focused on descending pain modulatory pathways and peripheral sensory systems. In 2005, Dr. Albrecht became an active research and teaching faculty member of the CNN. Working directly with INTiDYN co-founder Dr. Frank Rice, his research has been instrumental to the understanding of peripheral mechanisms of chronic pain and have been essential to the generation of novel views on theories of pain perception emerging from this research hub.

The research of Dr. Albrecht has highlighted specific pathologies from painful skin related to:

• Small caliber sensory innervation to the epidermis and interactions with epidermal keratinocyte chemistry and Langerhans cell function
• Morphologic and molecular aberrations of small caliber sensory and sympathetic innervation to dermal vasculature, hair follicles, and sweat glands
• Sensory stimulus transduction and integration among epidermal keratinocytes, vascular adventitia, muscle, endothelium, sweat glands, and hair follicle compartments

Dr. Albrecht holds a BS in psychology (1991) and a PhD in neuroscience (2001), both from Pennsylvania State University.

George Houk (Quanzhi Hou), MD, PhD

Senior Research Scientist

Dr. Houk earned his medical degree from Shandong Medical University, Peoples Republic of China, and trained as a plastic surgeon at Peking Union Medical College. In 2001, he immigrated to Montreal, Canada to do pain related research on burn patients where he earned a master’s degree in Rehabilitation Medicine from McGill University. In 2003, he joined Dr. Frank Rice’s lab at Albany Medical College to continue research on pain where he earned a master’s degree and PhD in neuroscience and neuropharmacology. He joined the INTiDYN team in 2014. Dr. Hou has pioneered research on neurochemical properties in epidermal keratinocytes and their contribution to chronic pain in humans, especially CGRP, a potent vasodilater and pain-related peptide. In addition to continuing his own research on pain mechanisms, Dr. Houk is a key scientist and project manager.

Sample publications:

Rice FL, Castel D, Ruggiero E, Dockum M, Houk G, Sabbag I, Albrecht PJ, Meilin S. 2019a. Human-like cutaneous neuropathologies associated with a porcine model of peripheral neuritis: A translational platform for neuropathic pain. Neurobiol Pain 5:100021.

Rice FL, Houk G, Wymer JP, Gosline SJC, Guinney J, Wu J, Ratner N, Jankowski MP, La Rosa S, Dockum M, Storey JR, Carroll SL, Albrecht PJ, Riccardi VM. 2019b. The evolution and multi-molecular properties of NF1 cutaneous neurofibromas originating from C-fiber sensory endings and terminal Schwann cells at normal sites of sensory terminations in the skin. PLoS One 14(5):e0216527.

Hou Q, Barr T, Gee L, Vickers J, Wymer J, Borsani E, Rodella L, Getsios S, Burdo T, Eisenberg E, Guha U, Lavker R, Kessler J, Chittur S, Fiorino D, Rice F, Albrecht P. 2011. Keratinocyte expression of calcitonin gene-related peptide beta: implications for neuropathic and inflammatory pain mechanisms. Pain 152(9):2036-2051.

Zhao P, Barr TP, Hou Q, Dib-Hajj SD, Black JA, Albrecht PJ, Petersen K, Eisenberg E, Wymer JP, Rice FL, Waxman SG. 2008. Voltage-gated sodium channel expression in rat and human epidermal keratinocytes: evidence for a role in pain. Pain 139(1):90-105.

Marilyn Dockum

Lab Manager and Senior Lab Technician

Marilyn began her career as a lab technician at Albany Medical College and joined Dr. Frank Rice’s lab in 1995 and INTiDYN in 2014. Marilyn plays a key role in coordinating the flow of projects and record keeping, including the receipt of tissue specimens from clients, managing antibody stocks, sectioning, immunolabeling, digital microscopy imaging, and organizing final data for delivery to clients. She received a BA in biology from the University of New York, Plattsburgh.

Sample publications:

Rice FL, Castel D, Ruggiero E, Dockum M, Houk G, Sabbag I, Albrecht PJ, Meilin S. 2019a. Human-like cutaneous neuropathologies associated with a porcine model of peripheral neuritis: A translational platform for neuropathic pain. Neurobiol Pain 5:100021.

Rice FL, Houk G, Wymer JP, Gosline SJC, Guinney J, Wu J, Ratner N, Jankowski MP, La Rosa S, Dockum M, Storey JR, Carroll SL, Albrecht PJ, Riccardi VM. 2019b. The evolution and multi-molecular properties of NF1 cutaneous neurofibromas originating from C-fiber sensory endings and terminal Schwann cells at normal sites of sensory terminations in the skin. PLoS One 14(5):e0216527.

Elizabeth Ruggerio

Senior Lab Technician and Tissue Analyst

A key member of the INTiDYN team, Beth is skilled in all aspects of cell and neurobiology, ranging from small animal surgery, a full range of cellular and systems neurophysiology, functional genomics, cell culture, qualitative and quantitative immunocytochemical microscopic analyses of complex tissues, and statistical analyses. She also plays an important role as a project manager and the interface with clinical research sites in compiling and analyzing patient data from clinical trials. She received a BS Magna Cum Laude in Public Health from SUNY Cortland.

Sample publications:

Rice FL, Castel D, Ruggiero E, Dockum M, Houk G, Sabbag I, Albrecht PJ, Meilin S. 2019. Human-like cutaneous neuropathologies associated with a porcine model of peripheral neuritis: A translational platform for neuropathic pain. Neurobiol Pain 5:100021.

Mathew A, Lindsley TA, Sheridan A, Bhoiwala DL, Hushmendy SF, Yager EJ, Ruggiero EA, Crawford DR (2012) Degraded Mitochondrial DNA is a Newly Identified Subtype of the Damage Associated Molecular Pattern (DAMP) Family and Possible Trigger of Neurodegeneration. J Alzheimers Dis, 2012;30(3):617-27.

Lindsley TA, Shah SN, Ruggiero EA (2011) Ethanol alters BDNF-induced Rho GTPase activation in axonal growth cones. Alcohol Clin Exp Res, Jul; 35(7):1321-30.