Chronic pain  In addition to investigating basic CaV channel function and regulation, Lipscombe also studies the role and regulation of CaV channels in disease states, including chronic pain and psychiatric illness. Over her career, Lipscombe established herself as  an expert on how CaV channels participate in the nociceptive pathways and their possibilities as drug targets for treating chronic pain. By restricting splicing options in Cacna1b by gene targeting in mice, Lipscombe’s lab showed that cell-specific control of alternative splicing of Cacna1b impacts animal behavior "in vivo". Their research suggests that therapeutics with preferential action on specific CaV2.2 splice isoforms in nociceptors might have improved action while minimizing side effects on CaV2.2 channel isoforms expressed elsewhere in the nervous system. The mechanism of action of human-disease causing rare variants  In collaborations with colleagues in the Netherlands and the Broad Institute, the Lipscombe Lab discovered the electrophysiological consequences of rare missense variations in "CACNA1" genes, "CACNA1B" and "CACNA1I". They showed that a rare "CACNA1B" mutation identified in a three-generation family with a myoclonus dystonia-like syndrome impacts single CaV2.2 channel activity by altering ion flow. They also showed that rare de novo variants of "CACNA1I" linked to schizophrenia, impacts membrane trafficking of CaV3.3 with expected alterations in burst firing in thalamic relay neurons. Tool building  The Lipscombe’s lab clones are available through Addgene. Through a collaboration with Brown University researcher Christopher Moore and other institutions, the Lipscombe Lab is also developing new genetically encoded tools to monitor calcium signals in cells using bioluminescent proteins. Lipscombe has received multiple awards throughout her career in neuroscience. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, served as President of the Society for Neuroscience in 2019 and was named Fast Company Top 100 most creative people of 2019. A full list of Lipscombe's professional awards is available on her Brown University research profile. Lipscombe has served on the following committees and boards:  National Institutes of Health   Professional Committees and Boards