Current Research
Mentor: Allan Basbaum, PhD
Biafra Ahanonu wants to understand the neural and molecular basis of pain, a complex experience that integrates sensory information with ongoing brain states. Ahanonu is pioneering methods to record spinal cord and brain neuron activity in active, non-anesthetized animals and identify pain-modulating proteins in neurons and synapses that process pain. Ahanonu hopes these findings will help the millions of Americans who suffer from chronic pain.