Dr. Matthew Banghart

Biography

Matthew Banghart obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. He then pursued postdoctoral training in the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School under the mentorship of Bernardo Sabatini. Banghart is currently establishing an independent research laboratory at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). His lab focuses on understanding how cognitive processes such as expectation and attentional focus affect sensory perception, particularly in the context of pain perception and mechanisms related to placebo analgesia. The lab utilizes contemporary techniques including optogenetics, chemogenetics, brain slice electrophysiology, in vivo imaging, and rodent behavioral analysis, developing novel photochemical tools tailored to specific research questions. Banghart's work aims to determine the neural pathways that support placebo analgesia and the computational roles of opioid neuropeptide signaling underlying these circuits. As a recipient of the Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellowship and the K99/R00 Pathway Independence Award from NIDA, his research promises to unveil the complex interactions of neuromodulatory signaling that shape sensory perception.

Research Interests