Nikhil Sharma was recruited to Columbia University in 2020 as an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics and Systems Biology. His laboratory is working on understanding how noxious or painful stimuli in the environment are first detected by a group of sensory neurons known as the peripheral nociceptors.  Peripheral nociceptors are the key relay neuron transmitting information from the skin to high ordering processing centers in the nervous system such as the spinal cord.  The laboratory combines mathematical, genomic, genetic, and optical methods to understanding how painful stimuli are transformed as they pass through each step of pain processing from initial detection to perception.