This spring Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation Assistant Professor Chung Jung Mun was selected for the 2023 G.F. Gebhart Journal of Pain Young Investigator Award. This prestigious honor is given out by the United States Association for the Study of Pain (USASP)

The award highlights the excellence of a young investigator’s work and their promise to future contributions in the field. It is named after the founding editor of the Journal of Pain, Dr. Gebhart, who is internationally known for his research on mechanisms and modulation of pain.

“I am deeply honored to receive this award and get recognized for my research by the Journal of Pain, a top-tier journal in my field. I would also like to thank all my family, friends, colleagues, and mentors who provided me with incredible support and guidance throughout my career. Without their help, I could not have come this far,” Mun said.

Mun was chosen based on the quality of an article he wrote for the Journal of Pain that investigated the complex association between pain and cannabis and opioids co-use and vice versa, as well as the opioid-sparing potential of cannabis in the context of the daily lives of individuals with chronic pain.

In addition to the national recognition, Mun also received $1,000 to help pay for the cost of traveling to the annual USASP scientific meeting in North Carolina this April where he was presented with the award during a ceremony.

“I felt extremely grateful and lucky to be surrounded by wonderful colleagues and mentors from the pain research community in general and USASP in particular. This truly means a lot to me as an immigrant who came to the U.S. almost 15 years ago as a young student eager to pursue studies and a career in the field of pain,” said Mun.