Helena Rutherford, PhD, associate professor in the Yale Child Study Center, and Bulent Omay, MD, associate professor of neurosurgery and otolaryngology, have been awarded a $540,000 industry-sponsored grant to serve as co-principal investigators for a clinical trial examining the effects of oxytocin on socio-emotional functioning and pain perception in patients undergoing pituitary surgery.
Co-investigators for this study are Ryan Rimmer, MD, (otolaryngology); Mehmet S. Ozcan, MD, (anesthesiology); and Silvio Inzucchi, MD, (endocrinology). The findings are expected to provide important insights not only for patients with pituitary tumors, but also for advancing the understanding of oxytocin’s role in human socio-emotional behavior, pain regulation, and brain function more broadly.