About Me
John’s broad research interest is understanding the basis of neurological dysfunctions leading to chronic pain and migraine. He aims to gain an understanding at multiples levels of organization, from molecules to neural circuits and behavior. At the Brennan lab, he is working to identify the neural circuitry underlying migraine pain using preclinical models of migraine. His studies currently focus on studying the peripheral and central circuits that are critically involved in the migraine pain pathology. He uses multifaceted toolsets that include transgenic mouse lines, two-photon imaging, optogenetics, neuronal tracing, electrophysiology, and mouse behavior paradigms.
In his previous postdoctoral work on pain circuits in the laboratory of Patrick Sheets at Indiana University School of Medicine, John showed specific changes in the descending pain modulatory network in chronic pain that pointed to a dysregulated endogenous pain suppression network. Before that, he worked at University of Notre Dame in the lab of Francis Castellino where his studies focused on the physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology of NMDA receptors. John did his PhD at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology in India under the mentorship of Dr. R.V. Omkumar.
