The Department of Anesthesiology is proud to share that Robert W. Gereau IV, PhD, the Dr. Seymour and Rose T. Brown Professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Anesthesiology at WashU Medicine, received the Ray Dingledine Award for Research Impact on March 6, 2026.
The award recognizes one faculty member annually for exceptional innovation and influence. It is named in honor of Ray Dingledine, PhD, who chaired the Department of Pharmacology at Emory University School of Medicine from 1992 to 2017.
Gereau, also a professor of neuroscience and director of the WashU Medicine Pain Center, is an internationally recognized leader in pain neurobiology, and studies the molecular basis of pain and how injury rewires neural circuits to drive chronic pain. His lab has pioneered the use of optogenetics—using light to control nerve cell activity—to map pain pathways and track how signals move from the body to the brain, uncovering new targets for safer, more effective treatments.
Gereau’s research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health for more than three decades. He has authored more than 170 peer-reviewed publications, served on multiple NIH study sections, and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Gereau earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Missouri State University, his PhD in neuroscience from Emory University School of Medicine, and completed postdoctoral training at the Salk Institute. He joined the WashU Medicine faculty in 2004.
We congratulate Dr. Gereau on this well-deserved recognition, which serves as another testament to his lasting impact on pain research and his ongoing commitment to developing safer, more effective treatments.