Our lab is focused on dissecting the neurobiology of chronic pain and developing potential translational therapies for the management of neuropathic pain. Pain is fundamentally protective in nature. However, it becomes a burden when persisted for a chronic duration. Using behavioral and pharmacological techniques we are trying to reveal how the nervous system responds to pain. Our major attention is concentrated on the modulation of nociceptive information at the spinal cord level which is the relay center for pain signal processing between lower and higher nervous regions. Our work is focussed on kinesin-mediated regulation of nociceptors, dissecting the neurobiological intricacies of the brain reward circuitry in mediating chronic pain relief and unraveling the different neuronal circuitries involved in pain relief and drug addiction so that better analgesic drugs devoid of addiction can be developed. We are also developing novel therapeutics for the redemption of burn and frostbite-induced chronic pain in military veterans. Other potential areas that our lab is exploring are; Chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain, pain-reward circuit, bone cancer pain, nerve injury, opioid receptor pharmacology, cannabinoid system, and gut microbiota modulation during chronic pain.
Research Highlights