Natasha M. Flake, D.D.S., Ph.D., M.S.D.

Acting Assistant Professor

Background

Dr. Natasha Flake graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery at the University of Maryland in 2005, with a Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Maryland Graduate School. Dr. Flake earned a Master of Science in Dentistry and Certificate in Endodontics from the University of Washington Graduate Endodontics Program in June 2007. She joined the faculty at the University of Washington School of Dentistry upon her graduation.

Dr. Flake is a member of the American Association of Endodontists, the American Association of Women Dentists, the International Association of Dental Research, the American Pain Society, the Society for Neuroscience and the American Dental Association.

Research Interests

mechanisms of nociception, pain, and analgesia

Recent Publications

Thut PD, Hermanstyne TO, Flake NM, and Gold MS. An operant conditioning model to assess changes in feeding behavior associated with temporomandibular joint inflammation in the rat. J Orofac Pain 2007 Winter; 21(1): 7-18.

Flake NM, Hermanstyne TO, and Gold MS. Testosterone and estrogen have opposing actions on plasma extravasation in the rat temporomandibular joint. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 2006 August; 291(2): R343-8.

Gold MS and Flake NM. Inflammation-mediated hyperexcitability of sensory neurons. Neurosignals 2005; 14(4): 147-57.

Flake NM and Gold MS. Inflammation alters sodium currents and excitability of temporomandibular joint afferents. Neurosci Lett 2005 August; 384(3): 294-9.

Flake NM and Gold MS. Estrogen and inflammation increase the excitability of rat temporomandibular joint afferent neurons. J Neurophys 2005 March; 93(3): 1585-97.

Flake NM, Lancaster E, Weinreich D, and Gold MS. Absence of an association between axotomy-induced changes in sodium currents and excitability in DRG neurons from the adult rat. Pain 2004 June; 109(1): 471-80.

Divine JK, Flake NM, Sheehan K, and Gottlieb DI. Expression of a novel antigen, EEM-1, in the mouse embryo and embryonic stem cell-derived embryoid bodies. Developmental Dynamics 2000 May; 218(1): 207-11.