Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
@khannalabuf.bsky.social
410 followers 380 following 160 posts
We are unraveling a QR code for chronic pain | Prof. of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Univ. of Florida COM | Director, Center for Advanced Pain Therapeutics and Research (CAPTOR) | Mayday Pain Fellow | 🇮🇳🇴🇲🇨🇦🇺🇸 ORCID: 0000-0002-9066-2969
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Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
dereklowe.bsky.social
Never assume that you know all about what any drug molecule is doing in the body - where it's going, what it's binding to. A new example:
Rapamycin's Secrets
www.science.org
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
usasp.bsky.social
🎤 Call for Symposia Proposals topics related to clinical practice, basic science or mechanisms, and translational research related to pain. Ideally, presentations include multiple disciplines.

The deadline to submit proposals is October 15, 2025
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
mbeisen.bsky.social
Finally, someone has solved a real problem with AI! No more having to take a paper in the format for a journal that rejected you, and reformat it for a new journal. Well done!! formatmypaper.com
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
boghuma.bsky.social
Just here to remind everyone that while the federal government is shutdown, all study sections at the NIH are currently on hold. Another blow to science and to early career scientists like myself with young labs and research groups. Very hard to remain positive about this career path.
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
jgp.org
This Special Issue rupress.org/jgp/search-r... brings together a collection of studies that exemplify the multidimensional progress in physiology, pharmacology, & structure-function analysis of voltage-gated sodium channels. Editorial by Abriel & @lampertlab.bsky.social: rupress.org/jgp/article/...
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
channelomics.bsky.social
Voltage-gated sodium #IonChannels: Mechanisms, disease, and a growing research community *Special Issue* Journal of General Physiology.
rupress.org/jgp/article/...
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
painresforum.bsky.social
Hey pain scientist! Looking for the latest papers on pain? Come check out #PRF's new #PapersoftheWeek selections from Allan Basbaum, who also commented on the latest Editor's Picks painresearchforum.org/paper/correc...
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
antihebbiann.bsky.social
Our model also predicts dynamics of internal pain and effort states- which look intriguingly like two populations of neurons the Betley lab found during miniscope imaging of PBN!
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
antihebbiann.bsky.social
We tried a handful of manipulations, but found that the only really reliable way to suppress pain-coping behavior was to gate out the pain input to the controller. Which PBN is well positioned to do, as it receives direct input from dorsal horn of the spine!
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
antihebbiann.bsky.social
We then asked: computationally, what should NPY signals to to change how this model behaves? Our first guess was it should work by making coping behavior (licking) more 'expensive' in terms of effort, but in the face of a long-lasting pain input (persisting over an hour) this barely changed behavior
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
antihebbiann.bsky.social
Computationally, how is NPY changing behavior? We formulated pain-coping as a control problem- say the goal of the brain is to minimize perceived pain with minimum "effort" (ie time spent attending to pain). Given this goal we can train models to produce 'optimal' behavior to minimize effort + pain
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
antihebbiann.bsky.social
The work builds off of an amazing result from Amber Alhadeff--
paper: www.cell.com/cell/fulltex...
essay: www.science.org/doi/full/10....

when mice are food-deprived, AgRP neurons projecting to parabrachial nucleus start releasing neuropeptide Y, and this mechanism suppresses pain-coping behavior.
A Neural Circuit for the Suppression of Pain by a Competing Need State
Hunger suppresses responses to pain through an AgRP/NPY circuit.
www.cell.com
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
painresforum.bsky.social
Hey pain scientist, if you are looking for a condensed list of the top pain literature released each week, come check out #PRF's new #PapersoftheWeek selections from Greg Scherrer and
@drjerinmathew.bsky.social,
who also commented on the latest Editor's Picks painresearchforum.org/paper/preval...
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
annieneuro.bsky.social
2026 SIBPA|IVSLA Intl School of biophysics, Venice 2-6 February 2026. venice.ibf.cnr.it

This should be an interesting school for students to attend.
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
painresforum.bsky.social
Are you a #trainee looking for experience in scientific news reporting? Apply to this internship on @nature.com’s news team now! bit.ly/4pQaFgT #PRF
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
tedpricethepainguy.bsky.social
Just incredible findings, and a beautifully written paper: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Get your shingrix vaccine! You do not want peripheral neuropathy, and as a bonus you get substantial protection from later development of dementia.
Varicella-zoster virus reactivation and the risk of dementia - Nature Medicine
Large-scale longitudinal health records reveal consistent association of varicella-zoster virus reactivation with dementia.
www.nature.com
Reposted by Dr. Rajesh Khanna of the KhannaLabUF
khannalabuf.bsky.social
Is Nav1.8-specific inhibition the only path? Preferential Nav blockers offer a compelling alternative | PNAS www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

"Preferential Nav channel inhibitors targeting multiple pain-related Navs (Nav1.7, Nav1.8, Nav1.9) may offer a more effective analgesic approach" -- AGREED!
Is Nav1.8-specific inhibition the only path? Preferential Nav blockers offer a compelling alternative | PNAS
Is Nav1.8-specific inhibition the only path? Preferential Nav blockers offer a compelling alternative
www.pnas.org