The path of prof. Starowicz-Bubak to the therapy of chronic pain led through Uppsala, Utrecht, and above all Naples. It was in the Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry CNR that the young researcher with a Ph.D. came into contact with a great scientist and research authority - prof. Vincenzo di Marzo. As the researcher emphasises, "Professor Di Marzo's internationally recognised position fostered the exchange of ideas and experience and participation in many scientific projects (between ICB CNR and the University of Naples and the CNR Institute of Cybernetics, the University of Bonn, the University of Calgary, the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology in London). Not surprisingly, she has already returned to Poland as a co-author of an article in the prestigious journal Science. However, her experiences in pain treatment conducted in a laboratory almost at the foot of Mount Vesuvius resulted not only in her love for Naples but also in a new research direction, which prof. Katarzyna Starowicz-Bubak has initiated at the Institute of Pharmacology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków. The main objective of her research is to improve the effectiveness of treatment of neuropathic pain and pain associated with osteoarthrosis (degenerative arthritis) - the two most common chronic pain syndromes - by targeting the endogenous cannabinoid system.