Lawrence Chu, MD, MS

Clinical Focus

• Anesthesia
• eHealth
• Emerging Technology and Medicine

Administrative Appointments

• Executive Director, Stanford Medicine X (2011 - present)
• Organizing Chair, Fourth World Congress on Social Media and Web 2.0 in Health, Medicine and Biomedical Research (2010 - 2011)
• Member, Committee on Admissions, Stanford University School of Medicine (2007 - present)
• Member, Web Site Committee, American Pain Society (2007 - present)
• Member, Educational Resources Committee, Society for Education in Anesthesia (2003 - present)

Honors and Awards

• Innovation in Education Award, International Anesthesia Research Society (2011-2012)
• Career Development Award, National Institutes of Health (8/2004-8/2009)
• Clinical Loan Repayment Program, National Institutes of Health (7/2003 - Present)
• Research Fellowship Grant, Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (1/2003-6/2004)
• Excellence in Teaching Award, Stanford University Department of Biological Sciences (1998)

Professional Education

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

• Anesthesia

Internet Links

• Clinical Research Website
• Anesthesia Informatics Research Website
• Stanford Medicine X

Current Research Interests

I have two lines of research, one involving educational informatics and use of technology in postgraduate medical education and another involving NIH-funded work in patient-oriented clinical research regarding opioid use and physiologic responses associated with acute and chronic exposure in humans.

For a full description of my educational informatics work, please see my website aim.stanford.edu.

My clinical research focuses on the study opiate-induced hyperalgesia in patients suffering from chronic pain.

I am currently conducting an NIH-funded five year double-blinded randomized controlled clinical study (NIGMS award 1K23GM071400-01) that prospectively examines the following hypotheses: 1) pain patients on chronic opioid therapy develop dose-dependent tolerance and/or hyperalgesia to these medications over time, 2) opiate-induced tolerance and hyperalgesia develop differently with respect to various types of pain, 3) opioid-induced hyperalgesia occurs independently of withdrawal phenomena, and 4) opiate-induced tolerance and hyperalgesia develop differently based on gender and/or ethnicity.

The study is the first quantitative and prospective examination of tolerance and hyperalgesia in pain patients and may have important implications for the rational use of opioids in the treatment of chronic pain.

Clinical Trials

• 5HT3 Antagonists to Treat Opioid Withdrawal and to Prevent the Progression of Physical Dependence Recruiting
• Study on the Effect of a Beta Blocker on Increased Sensitivity to Pain in Humans Caused by Opioids Recruiting
• Opiate-Induced Tolerance & Hyperalgesia in Pain Patients Completed
• A Study of Genetic Variation Influencing Pain and Response to Opioid Medications in Patients with Chronic Pain Enrolling by Invitation
• fMRI Imaging of Opioid Withdrawal in Healthy Human Volunteers Enrolling by Invitation

Publications

• Information technology and its role in anaesthesia training and continuing medical education. Chu LF, Erlendson MJ, Sun JS, Clemenson AM, Martin P, Eng RL. Best Pract Res Clin Anaesthesiol. 2012; 26 (1): 33-53
• Modulation of remifentanil-induced postinfusion hyperalgesia by the β-blocker propranolol in humans. Chu LF, Cun T, Ngai LK, Kim JE, Zamora AK, Young CA, Angst MS, Clark DJ. Pain. 2012
• A sensitive assay for the quantification of morphine and its active metabolites in human plasma and dried blood spots using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Clavijo CF, Hoffman KL, Thomas JJ, Carvalho B, Chu LF, Drover DR, Hammer GB, Christians U, Galinkin JL. Anal Bioanal Chem. 2011; 400 (3): 715-28
• Analysis of 4999 online physician ratings indicates that most patients give physicians a favorable rating. Kadry B, Chu LF, Kadry B, Gammas D, Macario A. J Med Internet Res. 2011; 13 (4): e95
• Prescription opioid analgesics rapidly change the human brain. Younger JW, Chu LF, D'Arcy NT, Trott KE, Jastrzab LE, Mackey SC. Pain. 2011; 152 (8): 1803-10