Marsha Ritter Jones, MD, PhD

Dr. Ritter is studying how skin, sensory nerves, and the immune system communicate to maintain the protective barrier of the body and respond to inflammatory challenges such as autoimmune diseases and infections. This interconnection also plays a role in pain. It is well known that peptide-releasing (peptidergic) sensory afferents release peptides (e.g., CGRP and Substance P) that act on immune cells and keratinocytes. However, the role of nonpeptidergic sensory afferents, those that do not release peptides, has not been elucidated. Dr. Ritter's research seeks to understand the role of nonpeptidergic neurons in the inflammatory response and pain, as well as how anesthetics impact neural immune communication.

• Jones M R, Wang Z, and Bjorling, D. (2015) Intrathecal cannabinoid-1 receptor agonist prevents referred hyperalgesia in acute acrolein-induced cystitis in rats. American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Urology, 3(1), 28-35.
• Ritter-Jones, M, Najjar, S, Albers, K. (2016) Keratinocytes as modulators of sensory afferent firing. Pain, 157(4), 786-7.
• Cohen JA, Edwards TN, Liu AW, Hirai T, Ritter-Jones M, Wu, J, Li, Y, Zhang, S, Ho J, Davis BM, Albers KM, Kaplan DH. (2019) Cutaneous TRPV1+ Neurons Trigger Protective Innate Type 17 Anticipatory Immunity, Cell 178(4), 919-932.
• Epouhe A, Ritter Jones M, Najjar S, Cohen J, Kaplan D, Koerber R, Albers KM. Use of optogenetics for the study of skin-nerve communication. (2021) Contemporary approaches to the study of pain: from molecules to neural networks. Seal R., Editor, Springer Nature, In press.