Timothy Ness, M.D., Ph.D.

Ness, Timothy, M.D., Ph.D.

Name: Ness, Timothy, M.D., Ph.D.
Position/Title: Simon Gelman Endowed Professor
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: 205-934-6501
Description: Clinical Subspecialty and Area(s) of Interest

Acute and chronic pain
Urogenital pain and related research
Education and Degrees
University of Iowa College of Medicine, Medical Doctor and Ph.D. in Pharmacology, 1988
University of Iowa College of Medicine, Anesthesiology Residency, 1993
University of Iowa College of Medicine, Pain Management Fellowship, 1993
Awards and Honors
Summa Cum Laude, Luther College
Professional Societies
American Society for Regional Anesthesia
International Anesthesia Research Society
American Pain Society
Society for Neuroscience
International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)
IASP Task Force on Translational Pain Research
IASP Special Interest Groups on Urogenital Pain & Sex, Gender and Pain
Recent Publications
Edwards RR, Fillingim RB, Ness TJ. Age-related differences in endogenous pain modulation: a comparison of diffuse noxious inhibitory controls in healthy older and younger adults. Pain. 2003 Jan;101(1-2):155-65
Boyce JR, Ness T, Castroman P, Gleysteen JJ. A preliminary study of the optimal anesthesia positioning for the morbidly obese patient.Obes Surg. 2003 Feb;13(1):4-9
Ness TJ. Do we need another animal pain model? Anesthesiology.2003 Feb;98(2):291
Mogil JS, Wilson SG, Chesler EJ, Rankin AL, Nemmani KV, Lariviere WR, Groce MK, Wallace MR, Kaplan L, Staud R, Ness TJ, Glover TL, Stankova M, Mayorov A, Hruby VJ, Grisel JE, Fillingim RB. The melanocortin-1 receptor gene mediates female-specific mechanisms of analgesia in mice and humans. Proc Natl Acad SciU S A. 2003 Apr 15;100(8):4867-72
Putzke JD, Richards JS, Ness T, Kezar L. Test-retest reliability of the Donovan spinal cord injury pain classification scheme. Spinal Cord.2003 Apr;41(4):239-41
Dinoff BL, Richards JS, Ness TJ. Use of topiramate for spinal cord injury-related pain. J Spinal Cord Med. 2003 Winter;26(4):401-3
Dinoff BL, Meade-Pruitt SM, Ness TJ, Richards JS. Traumatic spinal cord injury-related pain. Southern Pain Soc. Newsletter(2003).
Putzke JD, Richards JS, Ness T, Kezar L. Interrater reliability of the International Association for the Study of Pain and Tunks' spinal cord injury pain classification schemes. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2003 Jun;82(6):437-40
Fillingim RB, Ness TJ, Glover TL, Campbell CM, Price DD, Staud R. Experimental pain models reveal no sex differences in pentazocine analgesia in humans. Anesthesiology. 2004 May;100(5):1263-70.
Boyce JR, Waite PD, Louis PJ, Ness TJ. Transnasal jet ventilation is a useful adjunct to teach fibreoptic intubation: a preliminary report. Can J Anaesth.2003 Dec;50(10):1056-60
Edwards RR, Ness TJ, Weigent DA, Fillingim RB. Individual differences in diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNIC): association with clinical variables. Pain. 2003 Dec;106(3):427-37
Ness TJ, Elhefni H. Reliable visceromotor responses are evoked by noxious bladder distention in mice. J Urol. 2004 Apr;171(4):1704-8
Ness TJ. One thing leads to another. Anesthesiology.2004 Mar;100(3):472-3
Edwards RR, Ness TJ, Fillingim RB. Endogenous opioids, blood pressure, and diffuse noxious inhibitory controls: a preliminary study. Percept Mot Skills. 2004 Oct;99(2):679-87
Powell-Boone T, Ness TJ, Cannon R, Lloyd LK, Weigent DA, Fillingim RB. Menstrual cycle affects bladder pain sensation in subjects with interstitial cystitis. J Urol.2005 Nov;174(5):1832-6
Ness TJ, Powell-Boone T, Cannon R, Lloyd LK, Fillingim RB. Psychophysical evidence of hypersensitivity in subjects with interstitial cystitis. J Urol.2005 Jun;173(6):1983-7
Fillingim RB, Ness TJ, Glover TL, Campbell CM, Hastie BA, Price DD, Staud R. Morphine responses and experimental pain: sex differences in side effects and cardiovascular responses but not analgesia. J Pain. 2005 Feb;6(2):116-24
Fillingim RB, Kaplan L, Staud R, Ness TJ, Glover TL, Campbell CM, Mogil JS, Wallace MR. The A118G single nucleotide polymorphism of the mu-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) is associated with pressure pain sensitivity in humans. J Pain. 2005 Mar;6(3):159-67
Fillingim RB, Hastie BA, Ness TJ, Glover TL, Campbell CM, Staud R. Sex-related psychological predictors of baseline pain perception and analgesic responses to pentazocine. Biol Psychol. 2005 Apr;69(1):97-112
Robbins MT, Uzzell TW, Aly S, Ness TJ. Visceral nociceptive input to the area of the medullary lateral reticular nucleus ascends in the lateral spinal cord. Neurosci Lett.2005 Jun 24;381(3):329-33
Richards JS, Kogos SC Jr, Ness TJ, Oleson CV. Effects of smoking on neuropathic pain in two people with spinal cord injury. J Spinal Cord Med.2005;28(4):330-2
Kogos SC Jr, Richards JS, Baños JH, Ness TJ, Charlifue SW, Whiteneck GG, Lammertse DP. Visceral pain and life quality in persons with spinal cord Injury: a brief report. J Spinal Cord Med. 2005;28(4):333-7
Ness TJ. Pelvic pain in women and men: recent findings. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol.2005 Oct;18(5):555-62
Robbins MT, Uzzell TW, Aly S, Ness TJ. Characterization of thalamic neuronal responses to urinary bladder distention, including the effect of acute spinal lesions in the rat. J Pain. 2006 Mar;7(3):218-24.
Randich A, Uzzell T, Cannon R, Ness TJ. Inflammation and enhanced nociceptive responses to bladder distension produced by intravesical zymosan in the rat. BMC Urol. 2006 Feb 9;6:2.
Ness TJ, Randich A. Which spinal cutaneous nociceptive neurons are inhibited by intravenous lidocaine in the rat? Reg Anesth Pain Med.2006 May-Jun;31(3):248-53
Randich A, Uzzell T, DeBerry JJ, Ness TJ. Neonatal urinary bladder inflammation produces adult bladder hypersensitivity. J Pain.2006 Jul;7(7):469-79
DeBerry J, Ness TJ, Robbins MT, Randich A. Inflammation-induced enhancement of the visceromotor reflex to urinary bladder distention: modulation by endogenous opioids and the effects of early-in-life experience with bladder inflammation. J Pain.2007 Dec;8(12):914-23.
Cartner SC, Barlow SC, Ness TJ. Loss of cortical function in mice after decapitation, cervical dislocation, potassium chloride injection, and CO2 inhalation. Comp Med. 2007 Dec;57(6):570-3
Robbins MT, DeBerry J, Ness TJ. Chronic psychological stress enhances nociceptive processing in the urinary bladder in high-anxiety rats. Physiol Behav.2007 Aug 15;91(5):544-50
Ness TJ. The common in Boston. J. Urol. 2008 Aug: 180(2): 439-40 [Editorial]
Randich A, Mebane Hl, Deberry JJ, Ness TJ. Rostral Ventral MEdulla Modulation of the Visceromotor Reflex Evoked by Urinary Bladder Distension in Female Rats. J Pain 2008 October:9(10): 920-026.
Robbins MT, Ness TJ. Footshock-induced urinary bladderr hypersensitivity: role of spinal corticotrophin-releasing factor receptors. J. Pain. 2008 9: 991-998.
Black LV, Robbins MT, Ness TJ. Effects of Oxytocin and Prolactin on Stress-Induced Bladder Hypersensitivity in Female Rats. J Pain. 2009 Oct: 10:1065-72
Wesselman U, Ness TJ et al. Emerging therapies and novel approaches to visceral pain. Drug Discovery Today: Therapeutic Strategies, 2009.
Richards JS, Kezar, LB, Ness TJ, Ethics in pain management of persons with spinal cord injury. Topics in Spinal Cord Injury Research (in press 2010)
Ness, TJ, Castroman PJ, Randich A. Acute bladder inflammation differentially affects spinal visceral nociceptive neurons. Neurosci Lett 2009 Dec 25: 467(2): 150-4. Epub 2009 Oct.12.
Randich A. Mebane H. Ness TJ. Ice water testing reveals hypersensitivity in adult rats that experienced neonatal bladder inflammation. Implications for painful bladder syndrome/interstitial cystitis. J. Urol 2009 July: 182(1):337-42.
Richardson EJ, Ness TJ, Doleys DM, Banos JH, Cianfrini L., Richards J. Depressive symptoms and pain evaluations among persons with chronic pain. Catastrophizing, but not pain acceptance shows significant effects. Pain 2009 147:1470152 PMID 19773126
Deberry J, Randich A, Schaffer A, Robbins M, Ness TJ. Neonatal bladder inflammation produces functional changes and alters neuropeptide content in bladders of adult female rats. J Pain 2010 11(3):247-255. PMID 19945355
Ness TJ, Randich A. Neonatal bladder inflammation alters activity of adult rat spinal visceral nociceptive neurons. Neurosci Lett 2010 472, 210-214. PMID: 20149841
Robbins MT, Mebane H. Ball CL, Shaffer AD, Ness TJ. Effect of estrogrn on bladder nociception. J Urol 2010 183:1201-1205 PMID: 200968726
Froelich MA, McKeown JL, Worrell MJ, Ness TJ. Intravenous Lidocaine reduces ischemia pain in healthy volunteers Reg Anesth Pain Med 2010 35: 249-254. PMID 20921835
Ball CL, Ness TJ, Randich A. Opioid blockade and inflammation reveal estrous cycle effects on visceromotor reflexes evoked by bladder distension. J Urol 2010 184:1529-1535. PMID 20723927
Richardson EJ, Ness TJ, Doleys DM, Banos JH, Cianfrini L, and Richards JS. Catastrophizing acceptance and interference laboratory findings, subjective report and pain willingness as a moderator. Health Psychol 2010 29: 299-306. PMID 20496984
Froelich MA, Bolding SM, Cutter GR, Ness TJ, Zhang K. Temporal characteristics of cold pain perception. Neurosci Letts 2010 480:12-15. PMID 20493237
Czakanski P, Ness TJ. Impaired noxious inhibitory controls: an additional mechanism of pain in chronic pancreatitis? Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2010 8: 657-648. PMIC20435162
Meara DJ, Livingston NR, Sittitavornwong S, Ness TJ, Boyce JR, Wang D, Waite PD. Continuous infusion of Bupivacaine for Pain Control after Anterior Iliac Crest Bone Grafting for Alveolar cleft Repair in Children. Cleft Palate CraniofacJ. 2011 jan 10. [Epub]
Robbins MT, Ness TJ. Effect of stress on spinal dorsal horn neuronal responses to urinary bladder distension in the rat. Brain Research 1386: 118-26, 2011.
Shaffer AD, Ball CL, Robbins MT, Ness TJ, Randich A. Effects of acute adult and early-in-life bladder inflammation on bladder neuopeptides in adult female rats. BMC Urol. 11:18, 2011
Lai HH, Qiu CS, Crock LW, Morales ME, Ness TJ, Geareau RW 4th. Activation of spinal extracellular signal-regulated kinases ERK) 1/2 is associated with the development of visceral hyperalgesia of the bladder. Pain 152: 2117-24, 2011.