Al-Hasani Lab

Our research strives to elucidate the neurocircuitry underlying addiction, stress, chronic pain and analgesia, specifically focusing on the role of opioid peptide system to identify new targets for novel pharmacotherapies. While my interests have primarily focused on the neuropeptide and monoamine circuits that mediate addictive and affective behaviors, we are now actively studying how these systems alter nociception and chronic pain. We use in vivo optogenetic behavioral models to study the role of the dynorphin/kappa opioid receptor system and collaborate with chemists to develop new methods to detect peptide release in freely moving animals.