Project Summary Membrane transport proteins are responsible for the transport of key molecules and transfer of information across cell membranes, events that are central to many important neurobiological processes. They are designed to selectively recognize a variety of substrates of differing sizes and physicochemical properties for cellular transport. My overarching research goals are to understand the design principles of membrane transport proteins that allow for their selective transport, to develop pharmacological tools to modulate their function, and to utilize the knowledge gained to exploit their therapeutic potentials.

Current treatments for debilitating chronic pain and itch conditions are limited. Our proposed structural, mechanistic, and pharmacological studies of neuronal membrane transport proteins will set a cornerstone for the future development of therapeutics to treat pain and/or itch-related disease conditions.