Dr. Peter Soja is a leading neuropharmacologist and international expert on drugs acting on the central nervous system (CNS) with special emphasis on analgesia, anesthesia, pain and sleep. He has conducted clinical collaborative consultations and "cutting-edge" scientific research over the past 30 years, published and presented over 150 pioneering reports in leading scientific journals or at international conferences, and has co-edited several books and chapters including a recent book on Sleep and Pain (2007; ISBN 978-0931092-62-6), sanctioned by the International Association for the Study of Pain (see reviews of Sleep and Pain in Dr. Soja's CV).
Patients suffering from motor vehicle accidents (MVA), and other personal injuries or illness, very often have complex post-accident/medical problems that lead to the development of chronic pain and/or trauma-related syndromes, inadequate sleep, depression and anxiety. Patients with chronic pain, depression/anxiety morbidities and sleep issues are often prescribed several "cocktail" medications to help alleviate their suffering which may lead to drug interactions and side effects, as well as drug dependencies, and/or drug contraindications. Dr. Soja's previous successful experience as a consult expert, his (inter)national collaborations, together with his expertise in neuropharmacology and background in sleep and pain, provide timely, concise, and authoritative "drug-related" opinions and testimony for each personal injury case, and other medical cases.
Dr. Soja's research has been funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Medical Research Council of Canada (MRC), the Michael Smith Health Research Foundation as well as the BC Neurotrauma Foundation. Since 1989 he has been an accomplished educator to (under)graduate pharmacy and medical students on the patho- and neurophysiology of acute and chronic pain, sleep, sleep disorders, depression, schizophrenia, and epilepsy, and drug actions used to treat these disorders. Dr. Soja has also trained and mentored many Ph.D. students, postdoctoral fellows and Visiting Scientists, and also coordinates the only University based 13 week pain education course (Pain Research and Therapy, UBC) in British Columbia.
Dr. Soja received his B.Sc.in Biology and Chemistry from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Pharmacology at The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and completed his postdoctoral training at the Brain Research Institute, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles. He is currently a Professor, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UBC), a member of the UBC Brain Research Centre, and Websciences International, Ltd., Los Angeles, CA, and a member of the NIH-funded International Consortium of Sleep Research Training Sites. He has also served on numerous (inter)national peer review committees.
Background
Q: Please list your professional accreditations, degrees, licenses, and certificates granted:A: Postdoctoral: The Brain Research Institute, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles
Ph.D.: (Neuro)Pharmacology - The University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver
M.Sc.: Pharmacology - UBC, Vancouver
B.Sc.: Biology and Chemistry - University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth (UMass)
Q: Please list your affiliations or memberships in any professional and/or industry organizations:
A: Representative List:
Society for Neuroscience
Association of Professional Sleep Societies
International Association for the Study of Pain
Sleep Research Society
Canadian Pain Society
Q: Please list any teaching or speaking experience you have had, including subject matter:
A: Over 150 presentations internationally, including more than 25 years teaching at UBC and UCLA School of Medicine.
Recent presentations, (for detailed listing please contact Dr. Soja for CV):
Sleep 2009, presentations and workshops, Seattle, WA
Royal Society of Physicians 2008, Pain Receptors presentations, Edinburgh, Scotland
International Association for the Study of Pain Conference 2008, book signing (Sleep and Pain, 2007) and lecture presentations, Glasgow, Scotland
Canadian Pain Society Conference 2008, presentation on Anaesthetic Actions on the Spinal Cord, Victoria, BC
Sleep Training and NIH Grant-Writing Program 2008, UCLA Conference Center, Lake Arrowhead, CA
