Aaron D Mickle

Assistant Professor

Department of Physiological Sciences
amickle@ufl.edu
Box 100144
Gainesville, FL 32610-0144
Office:  352-294-4016

Lab Web Page: micklelab.org

Education

• Postdoctoral Fellowship, Washington University in St. Louis, 2019
• Ph.D. in Pharmacology, University of Iowa, 2014
• B.S. in Biology, University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, 2007

Honors and Awards

• 42nd Annual O’Leary Prize Neuroscience Award Finalist, Washington University in St. Louis, 2019
• Diokno-Lapides Essay Contest on Urodynamic and Neurourology Research Winner, 2019
• Thach Award – Poster Finalist – Washington University Neuroscience Retreat, 2018 and 2017
• Washington University in St. Louis, Department of Anesthesiology Academic Evening – Best Postdoctoral Researcher Abstract, 2018
• American Pain Society -Young Investigator Travel Award, 2018
• NIH F32 NRSA Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2017
• Urology Care Foundation Research Scholar Award, 2017
• McDonnell Center for Cellular/Molecular Neurobiology Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2016
• University of Iowa – Department of Pharmacology Retreat Best Graduate Student Poster Award, 2014
• NIH F31 NRSA Graduate Student Fellowship, 2012
• NIH T32 Institutional NRSA Graduate student Fellowship, 2011
• University of Wisconsin – La Crosse Undergraduate Research Grant, 2007

Research Interests

• Development of technology to study visceral diseases and refine current/develop new analgesic technologies – Our lab works closely with material, chemical and electrical engineers to develop new tools to study the nervous system with the end goal using these tools to study the changes that occur in these systems during and after the development of chronic pain, as well as the hopeful end goal of implementing these strategies in patients.
• Urothelial cell-to-sensory afferent signaling in bladder pain and function – Urothelial cells, the endothelial cells that line the bladder wall, were classically thought to function as a passive barrier. However, evidence collected over the last decade has shown them to be a much more active component of bladder physiology and pathophysiology. The fact that urothelial cells express many different types of sensory receptors, ion channels, signaling peptides and neurotransmitters, along with their close proximity to nerve fibers suggest that they could communicate and/or receive input from neuronal cells. Our lab is using innovative techniques to isolate these signaling mechanisms to specific cell types with the goal of understanding how these cells communicate under normal physiologic conditions as well as how the signaling may be altered under disease conditions.
• The role of immune cell signaling in interstitial cystitis/ bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) pain – IC/BPS is idiopathic in nature, however over the past two decades mounting evidence suggests alterations to the innate immune response may play a role in the symptomology and progression of the disease. Our lab aims to study the involvement of different immune cells in pain and bladder dysfunction associated with models of IC/BPS

Selected Publications

• Mickle AD*, SM Won*, KN Noh*, J Yoon*, KW Meacham, Y Xue, LA McIlvried, BA Copits, VK Samineni, KE Crawford, DH Kim, P Srivastava, BH Kim, S Min, Y Shiuan, Y Yun, MA Payne, K Zhang, H Jang, Y Li, HH Lai, Y Huang, S Park, RW Gereau IV, and JA Rogers. A Wireless Closed-Loop Optogenetics-Based System for Peripheral Neuromodulation. Nature. 2019. 565(7739): 361-365. * indicates equal contribution
• Zang Y*, Mickle AD*, Gutruf P*, McIlvried LA*, Guo H, Wu Y, Golden JP, Xue Y, Grajales-Reyes JG, Wang X, Krishnan S, Xie Y, Peng D, Su C, Zhang F, Reeder JT, Vogt SK, Huang Y, Rogers JA, Gereau RW. Soft, fully implantable optofluidic cuff systems for wireless optogenetic and pharmacological neuromodulation of peripheral nerves. Scientific Advances. 2019. PMID: 31281895
• Mickle AD and Gereau RW. The future is bright: Optogenetics in the periphery for pain research and therapy. Pain. 2018 Sep;159 Suppl 1:S65-S73. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001329. PubMed PMID: 30113949
• Samineni VK*, Mickle AD*, Yoon J, Grajales-Reyes JG, Pullen MY, Crawford KE, Noh KN, Gereau GB, Vogt SK, Lai HH, Rogers JA, Gereau RW. Optogenetic silencing of nociceptive primary afferents reduces evoked and ongoing bladder pain. Scientific Reports. 2017;7(1):15865. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-16129-3. PubMed PMID: 29158567; * – indicates equal contribution
• Shepherd AJ, Mickle AD*, Golden JP*, Mack MR, Halabi CM, de Kloet AD, Samineni VK, Kim BS, Krause EG, Gereau RW, Mohapatra DP. Macrophage Angiotensin II type-2 Receptor Triggers Neuropathic Pain. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences. 2018 Aug 21;115(34):E8057-E8066. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1721815115. Pubmed PMID 30082378. * – indicates equal contribution

Additional publications here

Aug 2019