Kimberly Elizabeth Stephens, PhD, MPH

Research Program: Cancer Therapeutics Faculty Rank: Assistant Professor Campus: Arkansas Children's Hospital College: College of Medicine Department: Pediatrics

Cancer Research Interest

• Disease Site Focus: Breast
• Research Focus Area: Prevention, Health Disparities
• Type of Research: Basic
• Research Interest Statement: The activity of primary sensory neurons is critical for the development and maintenance of persistent pain states. Following peripheral injury, primary sensory neurons show complex activity-dependent plasticity as a result of prolonged noxious stimuli and ectopic discharges. This altered activity in the primary sensory neurons is transmitted to spinal dorsal horn neurons and ultimately to the brain which results in persistent pain in a proportion of patients. While genetic studies have advanced our knowledge of nociceptive pathways, our current understanding does not explain variations in the susceptibility of individuals to the development of this cancer-related persistent pain. Common genetic variations in pain phenotypes show inconsistencies across studies6 and have not facilitated the development of new treatments. Epigenetic variations within the genome are known to cause misregulation of protein at a cellular level which may modulate nociception. My long term goal is to determine the contribution of epigenetic pathways to enhanced pain sensitivity and the establishment of cancer-related persistent pain. Specific research questions that I’m eager to explore include (1) the association between altered chromatin structure in the dorsal root ganglion and cancer-related pain, and (2) cell-type specific changes in chromatin accessibility associated with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

Contact Information

• Email Address: KESTEPHENS@UAMS.EDU
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Publications

• Goree JH, Payakachat N, Byers L, [et al., including Stephens KE]. Impact of psychosocial factors on the success of neuromodulation treatment for patients with persistent pain. Regional anesthesia and pain medicine. 2024. PMID: 38388016.
• Rodriguez KA, Gurung M, Talatala R, [et al., including Stephens KE]. The Role of Early-Life Gut Mycobiome on Child Health. Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.). 2024:100185. PMID: 38311313. PMCID: PMC10907404.
• Frett B, Stephens KE, Koss B, [et al.]. Enhancer-activated RET confers protection against oxidative stress to KMT2A-rearranged acute myeloid leukemia. Cancer science. 2024. PMID: 38226414. PMCID: PMC10920984.
• Stephens KE, Moore C, Vinson DA, [et al.]. Identification of Regulatory Elements in Primary Sensory Neurons Involved in Trauma-Induced Neuropathic Pain. Molecular neurobiology. 2023. PMID: 37792259. PMCID: PMC10896855.
• Sivanesan E, Sanchez KR, Zhang C, [et al., including Stephens KE]. Spinal Cord Stimulation Increases Chemoefficacy and Prevents Paclitaxel-Induced Pain via CX3CL1. Neuromodulation : journal of the International Neuromodulation Society. 2023. PMID: 37045646. PMCID: PMC10330336.
• Vinson DA, Stephens KE, O'Meally RN, [et al.]. De novo methylation of histone H3K23 by the methyltransferases EHMT1/GLP and EHMT2/G9a. Epigenetics & chromatin. 2022 15(1):36. PMID: 36411491. PMCID: PMC9677696.
• Renfro Z, White BE, Stephens KE. CCAAT enhancer binding protein gamma (C/EBP-γ): An understudied transcription factor. Advances in biological regulation. 2022 84:100861. PMID: 35121409. PMCID: PMC9376885.
• Stephens KE, Zhou W, Renfro Z, [et al.]. Global gene expression and chromatin accessibility of the peripheral nervous system in animal models of persistent pain. Journal of neuroinflammation. 2021 18(1):185. PMID: 34446036. PMCID: PMC8390277.
• Rizzardi LF, Hickey PF, Idrizi A, [et al., including Stephens KE]. Human brain region-specific variably methylated regions are enriched for heritability of distinct neuropsychiatric traits. Genome biology. 2021 22(1):116. PMID: 33888138. PMCID: PMC8061076.
• Sivanesan E, Stephens KE, Huang Q, [et al.]. Spinal cord stimulation prevents paclitaxel-induced mechanical and cold hypersensitivity and modulates spinal gene expression in rats. Pain reports. 2019 4(5):e785. PMID: 31875188. PMCID: PMC6882571.