Northeastern University · PharmacologyThakur Pain Lab
Ganesh A Thakur · Boston, Massachusetts
Research Focus
Dr. Ganesh A. Thakur's lab focuses on developing innovative treatments for chronic neuropathic pain without the addiction risks associated with opioids. The team investigates nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and cannabinoid receptors to create new non-addictive analgesics. By exploring small-molecule probes and their effects on pain pathways, the lab aims to improve pain management for millions suffering from chronic conditions.
neuropathic paincannabinoid receptorsnicotinic acetylcholine receptorsnon-addictive analgesicssmall-molecule probespain managementdualsteric ligandsdrug developmentinflammationopioid alternatives
Research Aims
4AIM 01Develop new non-opioid analgesics that act on cannabinoid receptors to alleviate neuropathic pain.
AIM 02Create selective probes for 9*-nAChRs to investigate their role in pain relief and inflammation.
AIM 03Conduct pharmacological characterization of novel compounds to ensure efficacy and safety.
AIM 04Test the therapeutic potential of optimized compounds in animal models of chronic pain.
Skills the Lab Values
medicinal chemistryin vivo pharmacokineticsmolecular pharmacologycell culture techniquesanimal models of painstructural biologycomputational modelingbehavioral assaysscreening techniquesdrug design
Output against the department
Publications175bottom 48% of dept.242nd of 462
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations4.4kbottom 33% of dept.310th of 462
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.