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When Shane the therapy dog was hit by a Jeep, life changed for him and his guardian, Taryn Sargent.

The cartilage of Shane鈥檚 left shoulder was torn. Arthritis and significant scar tissue set in. Despite surgery, acupuncture and several medications, the vibrant border collie who kept watch over Sargent on long walks transformed into a fragile pet who needed extensive care.

鈥淪ometimes he would just stop walking and I鈥檇 have to carry him home,鈥� recalls Sargent, whose epileptic seizures increased markedly as Shane became unable to accompany her for long daily walks. 鈥淚t was a struggle to see him in that much pain.鈥�

Today, 10-year-old Shane has dramatically reduced pain and dependency on medications, and is bounding around like a puppy again, 18 months after receiving a single injection of an experimental gene therapy developed by CU Boulder neuroscientist Linda Watkins.听

Thirty years in the making, the opioid-free, long-lasting shot has been used in more than 40 dogs with impressive results, and ultimately Watkins believes it could play an important role in addressing the nation鈥檚 chronic pain epidemic. This summer, biotech startup , which she co-founded, launched its first human study in Australia. Another clinical trial in California is in the works.

鈥淭he impact on pets, their guardians and people with chronic pain could be huge,鈥� Watkins says.

Watkins鈥� journey began in the 1980s, when, as a new hire in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, she began to rock the boat in the field of pain research.

Conventional wisdom held that neurons were the key messengers for pain, so most medications targeted them. But Watkins proposed that then-little-understood glial cells might be the culprit in chronic pain. Glial cells are immune cells in the brain and spinal cord that make us achy when we鈥檙e sick so we can rest and get better. What if that ancient survival circuitry somehow got stuck in overdrive, leading to chronic pain? 鈥淭he whole field was like, 鈥榃hat on earth is she talking about?鈥欌��

Watkins and her students hunkered down in the lab, ultimately discovering that activated glial cells produced inflammatory compounds that drive pain. They also learned that, after the initial sickness or injury faded, the cells produced a compound called interleukin 10 (IL-10) to dampen the process they鈥檇 started.

鈥淚L-10 is Mother Nature鈥檚 anti-inflammatory,鈥� she says.

Over the years, she and her team experimented with a host of strategies to boost IL-10. They persisted and, in 2009, Watkins co-founded Xalud Therapeutics. Their technology: an injection near the spinal cord or the site of an inflamed joint that delivers circles of DNA in a sugar/saline solution to cells, instructing them to ramp up IL-10 production.

With help from the university鈥檚 Technology Transfer Office鈥攚hich has provided intellectual property support, assistance with licensing agreements, and help obtaining a $100,000 research grant in 2018鈥擶atkins is edging closer to bringing her idea to clinical practice.

After serendipitously meeting veterinarian Dr. Rob Landry at a pain conference in 2011, they teamed up to launch a clinical IL-10 research study in dogs. Landry owns and operates the in Westminster, and specializes in veterinary pain medicine and rehabilitation for companion animals.听

The new research grant is allowing Watkins and Landry to continue their chronic pain studies in dogs. The ongoing funding is also helping dogs with osteoarthritis to be placed into the project at no cost to their owners.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e happier, more engaged, more active, and they鈥檙e playing again,鈥� Landry says as he kneels down to scratch Shane鈥檚 belly after giving him a clean bill of health.听

Because the treatment is so localized and prompts the body鈥檚 own pain-killing response, it lacks the myriad side effects associated with opioids鈥攊ncluding dependency and constipation鈥攁nd it can last for many months.

Ultimately, that could make it an attractive option for people with neuropathic pain or arthritis.听

As Watkins puts it: 鈥淚t could be a game-changer.鈥�