• Mogil, J.S. and Chanda, M.L. The case for the inclusion of female subjects in basic science studies of pain. Pain, 117:1-5, 2005.
• Chanda, M.L. and Mogil, J.S. Sex differences in the effects of amiloride on formalin test nociception in mice. American Journal of Physiology (RICP), 291:R335-342, 2006.
• Langford, D.J., Crager, S.E., Shehzad, Z., Smith, S.B., Sotocinal, S.G., Levenstadt, J.S., Chanda, M.L., Levitin, D.J., and Mogil, J.S.  Social modulation of pain as evidence for empathy in mice.  Science, 312:1967-1970, 2006.

   My research is focused on sex differences in pain and analgesia in mice.  I’m interested in the mechanisms underlying these differences, including the contribution of gonadal steroid hormones and sex-linked genes.
   Prior to embarking upon my scientific career, I completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts with the intention of becoming a creative art therapist. I was completing my psychology prerequisites, when an introductory course in neurobiology forever changed me.  Suddenly, “to be or not to be” was no longer the relevant question but “how?” and “where?”  Art offered me interpretive solutions, but I needed more.  My expression of the external world through art was soon replaced by an even greater passion for the internal world of ion channels and neurotransmitters.
   Following this eureka moment, I switched from being an art major to a science major.  While at Concordia University, I researched the neurobiological factors underlying odor-guided mate preference in the male rat.  It was during this time that I became interested in how the hormonal and genetic factors which contribute to sexual motivation might impinge upon other systems.  The work of Dr. Mogil and his colleagues regarding sex differences in opioid analgesia was particularly intriguing to me.  Finally, in the spring of 2004 I became the proud recipient of a Specialization in Behavioral Neurosciences (and rat bums).
   When I’m not hard at work in the lab, I “experiment” artistically.  Performance art is the perfect complement to the research I do.  Check out some of the things that I’ve been working on lately:  Mona & Leonardo, Punk, Cabaret, Couch Potato, Reality Check, Tequila, Sears.