Tayler D. Sheahan

Dr. Tayler D. Sheahan is an Assistant Professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin in the Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology, and Anatomy. Her research focuses on the neural mechanisms of pain and itch, combining molecular genetics, circuit mapping, and behavioral neuroscience. She holds a PhD from Washington University in St. Louis and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh’s Pittsburgh Center for Pain Research, supported by NINDS fellowships.

Education:

• BS, Marquette University (2012)
• PhD, Washington University in St. Louis (2017)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh (2024)

Research Interests: Dr. Sheahan’s lab investigates how pain and itch are encoded in the nervous system, with a focus on spinal cord circuits and translational relevance to human conditions like chronic pain and eczema. Techniques include two-photon Ca²⁺ imaging, molecular genetics, and human tissue analysis. Recent work identified spinal neuron populations encoding itch and revealed anti-itch drug mechanisms involving kappa opioid receptors.

Awards:

• NINDS K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award
• NINDS F32 Individual Predoctoral Fellowship
• NINDS T32 Institutional Training Grant

Grants & Advising: Trains undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral researchers in somatosensory neurobiology. Collaborates on grants exploring spinal cord signaling and therapeutic targets for itch/pain relief.

Labs: Leads the Sheahan Lab at MCW, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to neural coding and disease mechanisms. Maintains a lab website for ongoing projects and collaborations.