Associate Professor Rainer Haberberger knows about genes. The last decade of his working life has been spent researching the control of gene expression in nociceptors. In 2005, Flinders University managed to attract Rainer to The Great South Land, on the very competitive Mary Overton Neuroscience Fellowship. He now runs an important research group within the Flinders Uni Centre for Neuroscience. They are untangling some of the mechanisms by which primary nociceptors contribute to ongoing pain states. His contributions have led to the prizes and awards from the International Association for the Study of Pain and the Australian Lung Foundation (what?! oh, Rainer is also a player in the world of peripheral airway function….)