Feng Wang, Université Laval

Research

Chronic Pain Cold Hypersensitivity In Vivo Functional Imaging Mice Behavior Testing Neural Circuits Sensory Encoding Spinal Cord Projection Neurons Thermosensation

Latest papers

A specialized population of hair afferents dedicated to transmitting mechanical itch.
Neuron · 2026
The gut microbiota promotes pain in fibromyalgia.
Neuron · 2025
An improved conflict avoidance assay reveals modality-specific differences in pain hypersensitivity across sexes.
Pain · 2024

All 8 publications

Latest funding

Spinal circuits encoding normal and pathological thermoception
CIHR · 2026 · Nominated PI
$841,500
ALKAL2-ALK signaling in spontaneous neuropathic pain
CIHR · 2025 · Co-investigator
$1,021,276
Unraveling coding strategies for somatosensation
NSERC · 2023 · Principal investigator
$12,500

All 4 grants and awards

8 publications.

01

A specialized population of hair afferents dedicated to transmitting mechanical itch.

Fatima M, Lee H, Cha H, Hor CC, Wang F, Liu J, Damblon J, Zhang W, Qu K, Nagai Y, Dinh A, Wu Z, Ajimal R, Xiong AE, Chai M, Asmar A, Cai W, Zhou X, Balaji A, Pan H, Horwitz L, Tsoi LC, Hu H, Xu XZS, De Koninck Y, Duan B

Neuron2026

DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2026.05.017 PMID: 42242217

02

The gut microbiota promotes pain in fibromyalgia.

Cai W, Haddad M, Haddad R, Kesten I, Hoffman T, Laan R, Westfall S, Defaye M, Abdullah NS, Wong C, Brown N, Tansley S, Lister KC, Hooshmandi M, Wang F, Lorenzo LE, Hovhannisyan V, Ho-Tieng D, Kumar V, Sharif B, Thurairajah B, Fan J, Sahar T, Clayton C, Wu N, Zhang J, Bar-Yoseph H, Pitashny M, Krock E, Mogil JS, Prager-Khoutorsky M, Séguéla P, Altier C, King IL, De Koninck Y, Brereton NJB, Gonzalez E, Shir Y, Minerbi A, Khoutorsky A

Neuron2025

DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.03.032 PMID: 40280127

03

An improved conflict avoidance assay reveals modality-specific differences in pain hypersensitivity across sexes.

Ferland S, Wang F, De Koninck Y, Ferrini F

Pain2024

DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003132 PMID: 38277178

04

Assessing spontaneous sensory neuron activity using in vivo calcium imaging.

Ingram S, Chisholm KI, Wang F, De Koninck Y, Denk F, Goodwin GL

Pain2024

DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003116 PMID: 38112748

05

Restoring neuronal chloride extrusion reverses cognitive decline linked to Alzheimer's disease mutations.

Keramidis I, McAllister BB, Bourbonnais J, Wang F, Isabel D, Rezaei E, Sansonetti R, Degagne P, Hamel JP, Nazari M, Inayat S, Dudley JC, Barbeau A, Froux L, Paquet ME, Godin AG, Mohajerani MH, De Koninck Y

Brain : a journal of neurology2023

DOI: 10.1093/brain/awad250 PMID: 37551444

06

mTORC2 mediates structural plasticity in distal nociceptive endings that contributes to pain hypersensitivity following inflammation.

Wong C, Barkai O, Wang F, Perez CT, Lev S, Cai W, Tansley S, Yousefpour N, Hooshmandi M, Lister KC, Latif M, Cuello AC, Prager-Khoutorsky M, Mogil JS, Séguéla P, De Koninck Y, Ribeiro-da-Silva A, Binshtok AM, Khoutorsky A

The Journal of clinical investigation2022

DOI: 10.1172/jci152635 PMID: 35579957

07

Sensory Afferents Use Different Coding Strategies for Heat and Cold.

Wang F, Bélanger E, Côté SL, Desrosiers P, Prescott SA, Côté DC, De Koninck Y

Cell reports2018First author

DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2018.04.065 PMID: 29768200

08

Probing pain pathways with light.

Wang F, Bélanger E, Paquet ME, Côté DC, De Koninck Y

Neuroscience2016First author

DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2016.09.035 PMID: 27702648

Spinal circuits encoding normal and pathological thermoception

Nominated PICIHR2026Project Grant

Principal investigators: Wang, Feng

Keywords: Chronic Pain; Cold Hypersensitivity; In Vivo Functional Imaging; Mice Behavior Testing; Neural Circuits; Sensory Encoding; Spinal Cord Projection Neurons; Thermosensation

$841,500

ALKAL2-ALK signaling in spontaneous neuropathic pain

Co-investigatorCIHR2025Project Grant

Principal investigators: Altier, Christophe

Keywords: Cell Signaling; Electrophysiology; Neurons; Neuropathic Pain; Tyrosine Kinase Receptors

$1,021,276

Unraveling coding strategies for somatosensation

Principal investigatorNSERC2023Discovery Launch Supplement

Principal investigators: Wang, Feng

$12,500

Unraveling coding strategies for somatosensation

Principal investigatorNSERC2023Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Principal investigators: Wang, Feng

Keywords: activity dynamics; cold; combinatorial coding; in vivo calcium imaging; optogenetics; primary sensory neurons; sensory coding; sensory transduction; somatosensation; thermosensation

$66,000

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Anesthesia
Biochimie et microbiologie
Physiology and Pharmacology
Physiology
Other

Co-authors at Université Laval, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

Yves De Koninck

Faculty

8 shared papers, latest 2026

Marie-Eve Paquet

Biochimie et microbiologie

2 shared papers, latest 2023

Arkady Khoutorsky

Anesthesia

2 shared papers, latest 2025

Yves De Koninck

Faculty

1 shared papers, latest 2025

Christophe Altier

Physiology and Pharmacology

1 shared papers, latest 2025

Emerson Krock

Faculty

1 shared papers, latest 2025

Masha Prager-Khoutorsky

Physiology

1 shared papers, latest 2025

Ji Zhang

Faculty

1 shared papers, latest 2025

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2026

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Chronic Pain Dear Professor Wang, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "A specialized population of hair afferents dedicated to transmitting mechanical itch." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "Spinal circuits encoding normal and pathological thermoception" (2026), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]