Grace Kirby Distinguished Professor of Pathology Soman Abraham, PhD, was the keynote speaker at the Summer Workshop of the Korean Association of Urogenital Tract Infection and Inflammation (KAUTII) on July 19, 2025, at Ewha Women's University Hospital in Seoul, Korea. In his address, Abraham discussed how recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) can lead to chronic bladder pain and increased urinary frequency—even in the absence of detectable bacteria in the urine.
He presented findings from his laboratory using mouse models of UTI, which revealed that an abundance of nerve endings called extensive hyperinnervation beneath the bladder lining is the underlying cause of these persistent symptoms. This neural remodeling, triggered by repeated infections, may explain the chronic pain and urgency experienced by patients long after the infection has resolved.
Abraham suggested that complementing antibiotic therapy with drugs targeting neuropathic pain could offer a more effective treatment strategy for patients suffering from recurrent UTIs.
Following the first half of the conference in Seoul, Abraham traveled to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where the second half of the KAUTII workshop was held.
Read more about his lifelong quest for a UTI remedy and explore the Abraham Lab’s work here.
In addition to his teaching and research, Abraham is director of graduate studies for Duke’s Graduate Program in Pathobiology and Translational Biosciences, which was established in the early 1960s with the goal of training investigators to understand and solve fundamental problems in experimental pathology.