Senior Research Fellow
College of Medicine and Public Health
Dr. Joel Castro Kraftchenko (known as DR Joel Castro on his publications) is based at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI).
He received his PhD in 2008 at Flinders University.
His research involves pre-clinical and translational science. Translational evidence of Dr. Castro’s research, includes his first author publication in Gastroenterology (best journal in his discipline), describing the mechanisms of action by which Linaclotide, an FDA approved drug, relieves chronic visceral pain in IBS patients.
Dr Castro’s technical strengths include an array of techniques ranging from the cellular level to in vivo animal experiments. He is an expert on recordings from visceral nerves and pain quantification assays in vivo. He has published more than 40 articles, reviews and chapters including high-impact publications in journal such as Nature, Cell, Nature Communications, Gastroenterology, Gut, Pain, Scientific Reports and JCI insights.
Bachelor in Microbiology (Hons, 1st Class), PhD
As the Head of Endometriosis and Colon Research, Visceral Pain Group (VIPER), he is involved with the supervision of 10 researchers (2 postdocs, 4 research assistants, 2 PhD and 2 Honours students).