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Spotlight on PBO Center

  • 8 Faculty, 3 Years of Lifesaving Collaborations

    Maryland Today

    Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, an MPower Distinguished Professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and director of the Placebo Beyond Opinion Center at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, is featured in an article about the first cohort of MPower professors and the group's commitment to health care innovation.

  • The Role of Placebo in Virtual Reality for Pain Management: A Conversation with Luana Colloca

    International Association for the Study of Pain

    Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, is an MPower Distinguished Professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and director of the Placebo Beyond Opinion Center at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. IASP’s former Associate Director of Publications Gregory Carbonetti, PhD, speaks with Colloca about her background in placebo research, how it influences her recent work with virtual reality, and the story behind her feature in a 2020 cover story for National Geographic.

  • Why a Placebo May Work Better When You Know It’s a Placebo

    Medscape.com

    Placebos have long been a “nuisance” for pharmaceutical companies, said Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, a professor of pain and translational symptoms at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

  • Pain Decoder: Little Italy parishioner leads research

    Catholic Review (see pg. 25)

    The article profiles Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS, associate professor, and director of the Placebo Beyond Opinions Center, a parishioner of St. Leo the Great in Little Italy, Baltimore.

  • Luana Colloca: Placebo Effects Through the Lens of Translational Research

    The Dissenter

    Luana Colloca, professor, is a guest on the podcast and YouTube show The Dissenter, for an episode that explores placebo effects and their importance to research quality. The episode touches on placebo-based clinical interventions, expectations and culture in a clinical context, individual variation in the placebo effect, and the placebo effect in alcohol use disorder. The Dissenter is available at www.thedissenter.net.

  • Maryland Professor Luana Colloca Recognized with Lifetime Achievement Award

    The Sbarro Health Research Organization

    Dr. Luana Colloca has been awarded the 2024 Giovan Giacomo Giordano-NIAF Lifetime Achievement Award for Ethics and Creativity in Medical Research by the National Italian American Foundation and the Sbarro Health Research Organization. This prestigious honor recognizes her groundbreaking contributions to medicine and public health, particularly her research into the behavioral, neural, and pharmacological mechanisms of pain modulation, including the placebo and nocebo effects.

  • Placebos work. Why?

    The Unexplainable Podcast

    Luana Colloca, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing and director of the Placebo Beyond Opinions Center, discusses the question "should doctors embrace placebos in mainstream medicine?"

  • Hooked on Rheum with Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS

    Healio.com

    Luana Colloca, professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing and director of the Placebo Beyond Opinions research center reflects on how studying the brain's role in pain became her life's work and how she became interested in placebo research.

  • The Nocebo Effect: How We Think Ourselves Sick, According To Psychiatrists

    mbghealth.com

    Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS, associate professor, and director of the Placebo Beyond Opinions Center, discusses how nocebo effects influence pain levels.

  • A Newly Discovered Neural Circuit for Placebo Pain Relief

    Migraine Science Collaborative

    “Finally, information about the mechanisms of placebo analgesia that was missing in human research has now been found in mice. These results are so translatable, and show how evolutionary meaningful placebo is,” said Luana Colloca, who studies the neurobiology of placebo analgesia at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, US, but who was not involved in the new work.

  • Founders Week 2024: Researcher of the Year Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS

    The Elm

    The School of Nursing professor’s groundbreaking studies on placebo effect and pain management have led to the development of novel strategies to optimize therapeutic outcomes in clinical practice.

  • Think you are sick? It may be the nocebo effect.

    The Washington Post

    Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS, associate professor, and director of the Placebo Beyond Opinions Center, is quoted about how the nocebo effect may affect cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

  • Placebo Effect Circuit Discovered in the Brain: New Hope for More Effective Pain Therapies | Lega Nerd

    Ruetir

    If this neural circuit proves relevant in humans, it could open up new strategies for the development of targeted drugs. “If we have drugs that activate the placebo effect, it will be a wonderful strategy for pain management,” says Luana Colloca of the University of Maryland School of Nursing.

  • Cerebellar circuit may convert expected pain relief into real thing

    The Transmitter

    Discovery of this circuit in mice helps to replicate and advance those human findings, says Luana Colloca, professor of pain and translational symptom science at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, who was not involved in the work. “They added a new piece to the puzzle.”

  • We may finally know how the placebo effect relieves pain

    New Scientist

    Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS, associate professor, and director of the Placebo Beyond Opinions Center, is quoted about a newly identified brain pathway in mice that could explain why placebos, or interventions designed to have no therapeutic effect, still relieve pain.

  • Harnessing Placebos for Enhanced Recovery

    Sensory Approach to Manual Therapy Podcast

    In this episode, Luana Colloca, professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and director of the Placebo Beyond Opinion Center, sits down with podcast creator Troy Lavigne to unravel the profound effects of placebos in manual therapy. Colloca discusses the myriad ways trust, warmth, and competence in the therapist-client relationship can significantly enhance therapeutic outcomes.

  • The Shocking Power of the Placebo Effect!

    The Really? No, Really? Podcast with Jason Alexander and Peter Tilden

    Podcast hosts Jason Alexander and Peter Tilden interview Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS, associate professor, and director of the Placebo Beyond Opinions Center, to discuss how placebos mimic active treatment, non-medical uses for placebo, the power of the placebo effect, and more.

  • Tricking the brain when it comes to pain

    WMAR-2News

    The segment highlights studies being conducted by Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS, professor; director, Placebo Beyond Opinions Center; exploring the power of virtual reality and placebo in reducing pain.

  • Navigate Placebo Response: Insights and Mitigation Strategies for Clinical Excellence, Upcoming Webinar Hosted by Xtalks

    PRWeb

    Join Luana Colloca, PhD, MPower Distinguished Professor, University of Maryland School of Nursing Baltimore and others for a live webinar during which experts will dissect the placebo response phenomenon and offer insights right from the latest biological research to pragmatic methodologies for trial success.

  • Placebo Beyond Opinions Center Lecture Posits That ‘Placebos Can Improve Almost Any Condition You Can Name’

    Health Reporter

    The article highlights the “Translating the Science of Placebo into Medical Practice” lecture hosted on Jan. 21 by the Placebo Beyond Opinions Center at the University of Maryland School of Nursing.

  • I Hate Running. I Trick My Brain Into Doing It Anyway.

    The New York Times

    Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS, professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, and director of the Placebo Beyond Opinions Center, is quoted on the impact of "classical conditioning" when it comes to exercise.

  • Harnessing the Power of the Mind: A New Frontier in Rheumatology Treatment

    BNN Breaking

    Contributions from experts like Bharat Kumar, MD; Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS; Ted J. Kaptchuk, MD; and Tuhina Neogi, MD, emphasize the significant impact of patient beliefs and expectations on treatment outcomes.

  • ‘Exploring the power of their mind’: Data may offer clues to harnessing the placebo effect

    Healio.com

    Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS, a professor of pain and translational symptom science, and director of the Placebo Beyond Opinions Center at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, discusses the healing impact of the placebo effect.

  • The neuroscientist harnessing the placebo effect to help soothe pain

    New Scientist

    A neuroscientist and the director of the Placebo Beyond Opinions Center at the University of Maryland School of Nursing in Baltimore, Luana Colloca and her colleagues have shown how specific gene variants can shape the extent of someone’s placebo response.

  • Placebo Beyond Opinions Center Lecture Posits That ‘Placebos Can Improve Almost Any Condition You Can Name’

    UMSON News

    The Placebo Beyond Opinions Center hosts inaugural lecture examining the role of placebo research and its impact on health outcomes.

  • ¿Por qué está aumentando el efecto placebo?

    El Periodico

    Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS, professor, discusses placebo research in "En las últimas dos décadas, el efecto placebo no ha dejado de aumentar entre los pacientes con depresión, ansiedad, déficit de atención y otras condiciones psiquiátricas, o los que sufren dolor.' The lead reads: Over the past two decades, the placebo effect has continued to increase among patients with depression, anxiety, attention deficit and other psychiatric conditions, or those suffering from pain.

  • Open-Label Placebo Analgesia Blocked by Naloxone

    International Association for the Study of Pain

    New data suggest that although open-label placebos provide pain relief, this can be blocked by the opioid antagonist naloxone, similar to traditional “deceptive” placebos." There has been a need for more research into how open-label placebo works, as we don’t have a consensus mechanistic explanation for how these effects occur,” said Luana Colloca, director of the Placebo Beyond Opinions Center at University of Maryland School of Nursing, Baltimore, US.

  • The Powerful Placebo

    NIH News in Health

    The placebo effect works by turning on the body’s natural mechanisms for helping us feel better. Our brains make many substances that can lessen pain, stress, anxiety, and other unpleasant feelings. Dr. Luana Colloca, a physician-scientist at the University of Maryland School of Nursing, calls this our “inner pharmacy.” Just expecting to feel better can cause the release of these substances.

  • MPower Professor Profile: Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS

    University of Maryland Research Roundup

    Colloca, MPower Professor, has conducted pioneering groundbreaking studies that have advanced scientific understanding of the psychoneurobiological bases of endogenous systems for pain modulation in humans. As a result, she has developed an international reputation as a leading scientist for advancing knowledge of the neurobiological mechanisms of placebo and nocebo effects with a multifaceted approach including psychopharmacological, neurobiological, and behavioral aspects.

  • Effetto placebo: Quando la speranza e` un farmaco

    Benessere

    “Qui entrano in gioco diversi fattori, a partire dalla genetica,” interviene la professoressa Luana Colloca, MPower Distinguished Professor presso l’Universita` del Maryland a Baltimora, Stati Uniti. Colloca discusses the different factors that can impact the effectiveness of placebo therapy.

  • Dr. Luana Colloca

    9' to Thrive with Navin

    Colloca joins Navin to talk about the placebo effect.

  • A Cold Plunge for a Mental Boost

    New York Times

    The science behind cold-water plunges and mental health isn’t robust enough to convince many in the medical community that it’s anything more than a placebo. Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS, professor, said there are a number of reasons cold-water therapy might ease symptoms of mental illness, but that it should be done alongside other treatment.

  • Hacking the Placebo Effect with Luana Colloca, MD, PhD, MS

    Physicians Guide to Doctoring

    Placebo effect and its evil twin, the nocebo effect, and the dicey ethical territory that comes with recommending an intervention that you know only works if the placebo effect occurs.

  • Chronic pelvic pain mechanism, neuroscience education and physiologic in clinical practice

    International Continence Society Podcast

    Luana Colloca talks about how to harness placebo effect in clinical practice.

  • What a Harvard Placebos Expert Has to Say About Improving Erections

    Hard Conversations

    Tim has a unique conversation with Dr. Luana Colloca - a top scientist in placebo studies - who shares insights on how our brains filter our experience of reality.

  • Mild zaps to the brain can boost a pain-relieving placebo effect

    Science News

    “This is a very elegant study and I’m very excited and enthusiastic about it,” says Luana Colloca.

  • The weird science of the placebo effect keeps getting more interesting

    Vox

    Luana Colloca, a physician, neuroscientist, and placebo researcher at the University of Maryland, worries that prescribing open-label placebos could just become a means for doctors to shoo away patients. “I truly believe that we don’t need open-label placebos,” she says.