Santosh Mishra

Biography

Dr. Mishra obtained his bachelor’s degree from Delhi University (India) followed by his master’s degree in Biotechnology at Agra University. He further pursued his second master (M.Tech.) from Anna University (Chennai), one of the premier Universities in India for Engineering. He obtained his Ph.D. from Institute for Cell Biology and Neuroscience at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany. He worked in the area of Neural Stem Cells (NSC) during his Ph.D. and identified the expression of ecto- enzymes NTPDase2 (hydrolyzes ATP into ADP) in NSC present in the sub-ventricular zone of the adult rodent brain. Dr. Mishra revealed the first evidence that purinergic receptors and its ligands are involved in NSC proliferation and differentiation. German Research Foundation fully supported his Ph.D. research work as an international student. After completing his Ph.D., he moved to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIH) to work with Dr. Mark Hoon as a postdoctoral fellow and was eventually promoted as a Staff Scientist within the same lab. His post-doctoral work was on somatosensation particularly pain and itch. Dr. Mishra’s recent findings were to elucidate the neural circuit for itch sensation in mice that received worldwide attention for his research work. Additionally, Dr. Mishra has authored numerous high-impact research articles during his research at Frankfurt as well as at NIH and is a recipient of several awards.

Research Interest

NEUROBIOLOGY: 1) Investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying chronic itch and possibly pain in mice 2) To characterize the subtype of itch and pain-responsive neurons in the spinal cord 3) Tracing the neural circuit for itch sensation in the spinal cord and CNS 4) Discover the degree to which specific mechanisms of itch are conserved across mammalian species. The Mishra lab will use a wide range of powerful new tools to address these questions including molecular genetics, deep sequencing, functional imaging, electrophysiology and optogenetics along with pharmacological and behavioral tools.