Marsha Ritter Jones, MD, PhD

  • Assistant Professor

VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System 

Education & Training

  • Medical School: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
  • Residency: University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Fellowship: Regional Anesthesiology, UPMC
  • University of Pittsburgh, Department of Anesthesiology, T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship

Research, clinical, and/or academic interests

Dr. Ritter Jones is studying how skin, sensory nerves, and the immune system communicate to maintain the protective barrier of the body and respond to inflammatory challenges such as autoimmune diseases and infections. This interconnection also plays a role in pain. It is well known that peptide-releasing (peptidergic) sensory afferents release peptides (e.g., CGRP and Substance P) that act on immune cells and keratinocytes. However, the role of nonpeptidergic sensory afferents, those that do not release peptides, has not been elucidated. Dr. Ritter Jones’ research seeks to understand the role of nonpeptidergic neurons in the inflammatory response and pain, as well as how anesthetics impact neural immune communication.