Damien Boorman, PhD

CIHR Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Martin Pain Lab, University of Toronto Mississauga

Toronto, Canada / Sydney, Australia

damienboorman@utoronto.ca| boormandamien@gmail.com| neurobriefer.ai/DamienBoorman

University profile| LinkedIn| ResearchGate

Personal details: Australian citizen / unrestricted work rights in Australia | Languages: English; Serbian (limited)

Research Profile

I am a pain neuroscientist studying how the brain shapes pain through injury, expectation, context, prior experience, and social information. My work combines rodent models, whole-brain activity mapping, circuit-level approaches, and human neuroimaging to understand mechanisms of chronic pain, placebo analgesia, nocebo hyperalgesia, and individual differences in pain vulnerability.

A major goal of my research is to build stronger bridges between animal and human pain neuroscience. I aim to develop experimental approaches that allow mechanisms identified in rodent models to be meaningfully compared with human brain and behavioural data, while recognising where species-specific differences are informative rather than limiting.

This direction is reflected in my cross-species work comparing placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia in humans and rats, as well as my involvement in human fMRI research on placebo analgesia persistence. Together, these studies support an independent research program focused on contextual modulation of pain, chronic pain mechanisms, and interdisciplinary collaboration between animal and human researchers.

Academic Appointments

2023 – Present

CIHR Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Martin Pain Lab, University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada

2022 – 2023

Postdoctoral Researcher

Laboratory of Neural Structure and Function / Neural Imaging Lab, Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney, Australia

2018 – 2023

Academic Tutor and Laboratory Demonstrator

Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia

2017

Curriculum Manager and Educational Designer

School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia

Education

2019 – 2022

PhD in Neuroscience

Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney

Research Training Program Scholarship
Alumni Scholarship
9 publications during candidature

2014 – 2018

Bachelor of Science (Honours), Neuroscience

University of Sydney

First Class Honours and University Medal
Dean’s List of Excellence in Academic Performance
Dreher Prize for best overall performance in Anatomy and Histology

2008 – 2011

Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy

University of Sydney

Publications

Peer-reviewed journal articles

2026

Crawford LS, Boorman DC, Kang JWM, Peng A, Keay KA, Henderson LA. The Human Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Pain and Pain Modulation: A Review and Activation-Likelihood Estimation Approach. European Journal of Pain. 2026;30(6):e70318. DOI: 10.1002/ejp.70318.
Crawford LS, Boorman DC, Wake AH, Peng A, Robertson RV, Kang JWM, Robson K, Macey PM, Keay KA, Henderson LA. Placebo analgesia persistence: evaluating behavioural stability in repeated trials. Communications Biology. 2026. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-026-10377-8.
Scicluna RL, Kang JWM, Everett NA, Badolato CJ, Etchart MG, Kevin RC, Wilson BB, Boorman DC, Gordon RS, Anderson LL, Arnold JC, Keay KA, Bowen MT. Behavioural, pharmacokinetic, and genetic evidence of a cannabidiol-oxycodone drug-drug interaction in mice. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. 2026;198:119277. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2026.119277.
Poulson SJ, Skvortsova A, Zahra FT, Boorman DC, Karimi SA, Paz LV, Cui W, Mandatori A, Burek J, Siddiqi Z, Fazili M, Gami SR, Morgan OB, Di Maria M, Dinh A, Liang L, Contofalsky R, Mogil JS, Martin LJ. Cholecystokinin input from the anterior cingulate cortex to the lateral periaqueductal gray mediates nocebo pain behavior in mice. Nature Communications. 2026;17:6637. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-73266-y.
Boorman DC, Crawford LS, Siddiqi Z, Martin LJ, Henderson LA, Keay KA. The neuropharmacological basis of placebo analgesia: mechanisms and clinical applications in the context of chronic pain. Pharmacological Reviews. 2026;78(2):100111. DOI: 10.1016/j.pharmr.2025.100111.

2025

Boorman DC, Crawford LS, Henderson LA, Keay KA. Direct comparisons of neural activity during placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia between humans and rats. Communications Biology. 2025;8(1):570. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-025-07993-1.
Crawford LS, Wake A, Robertson RV, Peng A, Meylakh N, Boorman DC, Sattarov L, Ramachandran A, Macefield VG, Keay KA, Henderson LA. Conditioned Pain Modulation, Placebo and Offset Analgesia: Rates of Behavioural Expression of Inhibitory, Nonresponse and Facilitatory Pain Modulatory Effects. European Journal of Pain. 2025.
Boorman DC, Rehal SK, Fazili M, Martin LJ. Sex and strain differences in analgesic and hyperlocomotor effects of morphine and μ-opioid receptor expression in mice. Journal of Neuroscience Research. 2025.

2023

Sosa MKS, Boorman DC, Keay KA. The impact of sciatic nerve injury and social interactions testing on glucocorticoid receptor expression in catecholaminergic medullary cell populations. Brain Research. 2023.
Boorman DC, Keay KA. Learning pain in context: response-conditioned placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia in male rats with chronic neuropathic pain. Physiology & Behavior. 2023.

2022

Boorman DC, Keay KA. Sex differences in morphine sensitivity are associated with differential glial expression in the brainstem of rats with neuropathic pain. Journal of Neuroscience Research. 2022.
Crawford LS, Boorman DC, Keay KA, Henderson LA. The pain conductor: brainstem modulation in acute and chronic pain. Current Opinion in Supportive and Palliative Care. 2022.
Sosa MK, Boorman DC, Keay KA. Sciatic nerve injury rebalances the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in rats with persistent changes to their social behaviours. Journal of Neuroendocrinology. 2022.

2021

Boorman DC, Keay KA. Escalating morphine dosage fails to elicit conditioned analgesia in a preclinical chronic neuropathic pain model. Behavioural Pharmacology. 2021.
Keay KA, Argueta MA, Zafir DN, Wyllie PM, Michael GJ, Boorman DC. Evidence that increased cholecystokinin in the periaqueductal gray facilitates changes in resident-intruder social interactions triggered by peripheral nerve injury. Journal of Neurochemistry. 2021.
Boorman DC, Keay KA. Morphine-conditioned placebo analgesia in female and male rats with chronic neuropathic pain: c-Fos expression in the rostral ventromedial medulla. Neuroscience. 2021.
Boorman DC, Brown R, Keay KA. Periaqueductal gray inputs to the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus: columnar topography and glucocorticoid (in)sensitivity. Brain Research. 2021.

2020

Bembrick AL, Boorman DC, Keay KA. Disability-specific genes GRIN1, GRIN2 and CNR1 show injury-dependent protein expression in the lumbar spinal cord of CCI rats. Neuroscience Letters. 2020.

2019

Boorman DC, Kang JWM, Keay KA. Peripheral nerve injury attenuates stress-induced Fos-family expression in the locus coeruleus of male Sprague-Dawley rats. Brain Research. 2019.

Book Chapter

Boorman DC, Keay KA. Identifying the placebo and nocebo responders: two methods for eliciting placebo analgesia or nocebo hyperalgesia in rats with a neuropathic injury. In Translational Research Methods for Neuropathic Pain. Neuromethods, vol. 235, pp. 233–253. Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-5312-8_12.

Funding, Fellowships and Awards

Funding and fellowships

2024 – 2027: CIHR Postdoctoral Fellowship, CAD $210,000
2019 – 2022: Research Training Program Scholarship, AUD $98,000
2019: NWG Mackintosh Memorial Grant, University of Sydney, AUD $9,000
2017: NWG Mackintosh Memorial Grant, University of Sydney, AUD $12,000
2019: Alumni Scholarship, University of Sydney, AUD $5,000
2017 – 2018: Anatomy and Histology Summer Scholarship, University of Sydney, AUD $2,500

Awards

2026: Postdoctoral Leadership Award, University of Toronto Mississauga — CAD $5,000
2022: Best Poster Award, Australian Pain Society
2019: Best Free Paper Award, Australian Pain Society
2018: University Medal, Bachelor of Science (Honours), University of Sydney
2018: First Class Honours, Bachelor of Science (Honours), University of Sydney
2018: Dean’s List for Academic Excellence, University of Sydney
2018: Dreher Prize for Best Overall Performance in Anatomy and Histology
2016: Outstanding Achievement in Integrative Neuroscience

Teaching Experience

Academic teaching

2018 – 2023: Academic Tutor and Laboratory Demonstrator, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney.
Delivered and supported teaching in anatomy, neuroscience, physiology, and medical science contexts.
Supported student learning through practical classes, tutorials, laboratory demonstrations, and assessment-related activities.

Educational design

2017: Curriculum Manager and Educational Designer, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney.
Developed and refined teaching materials and learning activities.
Supported curriculum design and alignment of teaching materials with student learning needs.

Research-led teaching interests

Systems neuroscience, neuroanatomy, pain mechanisms, translational neuroscience, behavioural neuroscience, experimental design, and critical reading of primary literature.

Supervision, Mentoring and Training

Mentored approximately 25 trainees across undergraduate, MSc, PhD, and research assistant levels.
Trained students in histology, microscopy, whole-brain c-Fos analysis, behavioural assays, computational analysis, experimental design, and scientific reasoning.
Delivered informal teaching sessions and technical training within and across laboratories.
Trained researchers from other laboratories in stereotaxic surgery at the request of UTM vivarium and veterinary staff.
Supported trainee development in experimental reasoning, troubleshooting, interpretation of results, and presentation of scientific work.

Service, Leadership and Community Engagement

Founder and Developer, NeuroBriefer

Founder and developer of NeuroBriefer, a neuroscience-specific tool that helps researchers keep up with the rapidly expanding literature through personalised, structured summaries of new papers and tools for saving, organising, and collaboratively discussing research.
Conceived, designed, and built the platform independently over 9 months, including shared collections for collaborative curation and discussion.
Adopted by researchers, clinicians, and students internationally, with more than 300 users as of April 2026; ongoing development is focused on functionality and community interaction.

International Association for the Study of Pain

Selected to serve on the IASP Early Career Researcher Communications Committee (2024–present), supporting communication, visibility, and professional development of early career pain researchers.
Member of the Web Design Subcommittee and designer/lead for a global digital networking event delivered across two sessions in September 2025 with 80+ registrants.
Contributed to initiatives strengthening communication, visibility, and community engagement within the early career pain research network.

Peer review and academic service

Reviewer for international peer-reviewed journals including Pain, Journal of Pain, Neuropharmacology, Journal of Neurochemistry, Brain Research, Brain Communications, Frontiers in Psychology, Journal of Headache and Pain, and BMC Neuroscience.
Invited reviewer for the CIHR CGRS-D graduate scholarship program in 2025 and 2026.
Participant in the Letter to a Pre-Scientist program, 2024–2025.

Conference Presentations

Selected formats include invited topical sessions, oral presentations, and poster presentations across APS, IASP, SfN, CAN, SIPS, and WCBR.

2026

Canadian Neuroscience Society annual scientific meeting, Montreal, Canada. Poster presentation: “From brain to behaviour: whole-brain c-Fos mapping of neural activity underlying individual differences in chronic pain.”
Australian Pain Society annual scientific meeting, Adelaide, Australia. Invited speaker for topical session: “Placebo and nocebo from the lab to the hospital: State of the field and implementing procedures to drive therapeutic benefits.”
Australian Pain Society annual scientific meeting, Adelaide, Australia. Poster presentation: “From brain to behaviour: whole-brain mapping of neural activity underlying individual differences in chronic pain.”
Winter Conference on Brain Research, Montana, USA. Poster presentation: “Whole-Brain and Spinal Mapping of Neural Activity Underlying Individual Differences in Chronic Pain Vulnerability.”

2025

Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, USA. Poster presentation: “From Brain to Behaviour: Whole Brain c-Fos Mapping of Neural Activity Underlying Individual Differences in Chronic Pain.”
Canadian Neuroscience Society, Toronto, Canada. Poster presentation: “Do Prior Experiences Shape Pain Sensitivity? Nocebo Hyperalgesia, Repeated Testing and Contextual Conditioning in a Preclinical Chronic Pain Model.”
Australian Pain Society, Melbourne, Australia. Poster presentation: “The Anterior Cingulate Cortex as a Key Hub for Placebo Analgesia.”
Winter Conference on Brain Research, California, USA. Poster presentation: “The Anterior Cingulate Cortex Mediates Placebo Analgesia in a Novel Mouse Model of Chronic Neuropathic Pain.”

2024

IASP World Congress on Pain, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Poster presentation: “The neurobiology of placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia: cross-species comparisons.”
IASP World Congress on Pain, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Poster presentation: “Characterizing sex and strain differences in the analgesic and hyperlocomotor effects of morphine in mice.”
Canadian Pain Society, Ottawa, Canada. Poster presentation: “Investigating sex and strain differences in injury-induced mechanical and cold hypersensitivity.”

2023

Society for Interdisciplinary Placebo Studies (SIPS), Duisburg, Germany. Oral presentation: “Learning pain in context.”
Australian Pain Society, Canberra, Australia. Oral presentation: “Learning pain in context.”

2022

IASP World Congress on Pain, Toronto, Canada. Poster presentation: “Developing preclinical models of response-conditioned placebo analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia.”
Australian Pain Society, Hobart, Australia. Chairperson and speaker for invited topical session: “Placebo and nocebo from the lab to the hospital.”
Australian Pain Society, Hobart, Australia. Oral presentation: “Animal models of placebo and nocebo.”
Australian Pain Society, Hobart, Australia. Poster presentation: “Sex differences in morphine sensitivity are associated with differential glial morphology.”

2021

Society for Interdisciplinary Placebo Studies (SIPS), Baltimore/online. Video poster presentation: “Escalating morphine dosage during pharmacological conditioning fails to elicit placebo analgesia.”
Australian Pain Society, online. Poster presentation: “Escalating morphine dosage during pharmacological conditioning fails to elicit placebo analgesia.”

2019

Society for Interdisciplinary Placebo Studies (SIPS), Leiden, Netherlands. Poster presentation: “Serotonergic neurons in the rostral midline medulla are activated by placebo-induced analgesia.”
Australian Pain Society, Gold Coast, Australia. Oral presentation: “Placebo-induced analgesia in rats with chronic neuropathic pain.”

2018

Australian Pain Society, Sydney, Australia. Oral presentation: “The role of the locus coeruleus in regulating responses to acute stress in rats with neuropathic pain.”

Research Methods and Technical Expertise

Animal models and behaviour: Rodent models of chronic pain; placebo/nocebo paradigms; behavioural neuroscience; von Frey testing; cold plate and hot plate assays; conditioned place preference; open field testing; elevated plus maze; social interaction assays; longitudinal behavioural phenotyping.

Surgery and circuit approaches: Stereotaxic injections; viral vector delivery; cannulation; optrode implantation; GRIN lens implantation; miniscope imaging; FosTRAP; chemogenetic approaches; pharmacological manipulations.

Histology, microscopy and molecular approaches: Immunohistochemistry; immunofluorescence; H&E staining; c-Fos whole-brain mapping; ABBA; QuPath; atlas alignment; microscopy; Western blotting.

Human and translational neuroscience: Human fMRI; cross-species comparison; functional connectivity; translational pain models; integration of rodent and human behavioural/neurobiological data.

Computational and statistical analysis: DeepLabCut; Keypoint-MoSeq; DeepSqueak; behavioural video analysis; functional connectivity analysis; estimation statistics; statistical analysis; data visualisation.

Scientific communication and tools: Scientific writing; grant writing; teaching material development; AI-assisted literature tools; research workflow development.

Professional Development

2025: Imaging Structure and Function of the Nervous System, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Selected for an intensive, competitive advanced training course focused on modern approaches for imaging neural structure and function. The course provided hands-on training and conceptual grounding in miniscope imaging, one-photon and two-photon imaging, holography, confocal microscopy, and other optical, anatomical, and functional methods for studying neural circuits. This training strengthened my ability to integrate whole-brain mapping, circuit-level approaches, and imaging-based methods into my research program.

References

Professor Loren Martin

Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto Mississauga

Postdoctoral supervisor and mentor

Email: lj.martin@utoronto.ca

Professor Kevin Keay

Professor and Head of Department, School of Medical Sciences (Neuroscience), Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney

PhD supervisor and mentor

Email: kevin.keay@sydney.edu.au

Professor Luke Henderson

Professor, School of Medical Sciences (Neuroscience), Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney

Academic mentor

Email: luke.henderson@sydney.edu.au