Steven Prescott photo

Dr. Steven Prescott

MD, PhD
Pronouns: he/him

Positions

Full Professor

Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology

Full Member

Hotchkiss Brain Institute

Child Health & Wellness Researcher

Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute

Contact information

Web presence

Location

Office: HSC2111
Lab: HSC2024

Background

Educational Background

BSc Biology, McGill University,

MSc Biology, McGill University,

PhD Pharmacology, McGill University,

MD CM Medicine, McGill University,

Postdoctoral fellowship Computational Neuroscience, Salk Institute,

Biography

Steve Prescott completed his MD/PhD at McGill University, where his doctoral research focused on pain processing in the spinal cord. Opting not to pursue clinical training, he completed postdoctoral training in computational neuroscience at the Salk Institute in San Diego before starting his own lab at the University of Pittsburgh. In 2012, his lab moved to the Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto and then moved to the University of Calgary in 2025. His lab synergistically combines computational simulations, machine learning and diverse experimental techniques including in vitro and in vivo electrophysiology, calcium imaging, optogenetics, and behavioral analysis. By pursuing multiple intersecting projects with foci ranging from fundamental processes (e.g. how neurons regulate their excitability) to topics with immediate clinical impact (e.g. how to optimize spinal cord stimulation), his lab has made important advances in several areas. The lab is particularly interested in understanding how somatosensory information in normally encoded and how disruption of that coding contributes to chronic pain.

Research

Participation in university strategic initiatives

Awards

  • Canada Research Chair (Tier I) in Neural Coding, CIHR. 2025
  • Early Researcher Award, Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. 2014
  • New Investigator Award, CIHR. 2013
  • 53rd Mallinckrodt Scholar, Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation . 2011
  • Rita Allen Foundation Scholar in Pain, Rita Allen Foundation and American Pain Society. 2009
  • Long Term Fellowship, Human Frontiers Science Program. 2006