Rate My Professor Loris Chahl

Conjoint Professor Loris Chahl is an Honorary Professor in the School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy, with a focus on Pharmacy and Experimental Pharmacology, in the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He holds a Doctor of Science (DSc) degree. Professor Chahl's research career at the University of Newcastle spans decades, with early work in the Faculty of Medicine's Neuropharmacology Laboratory. His academic interests center on experimental pharmacology, particularly tachykinins including substance P and neurokinin receptors (NK1, NK2, NK3), transient receptor potential (TRP) channels such as TRPV1 activated by capsaicin, opioids, neurogenic inflammation, and their implications for neuropsychiatric disorders like schizophrenia.

Professor Chahl has explored models of schizophrenia using neonatal capsaicin treatment in rats, which induces brain changes and behavioral deficits similar to those observed in the disorder, including alterations in the somatosensory system and prefrontal cortex neurons expressing calcium-binding proteins or NK1 receptors. His studies also investigate opioid mechanisms, withdrawal-induced substance P release, stress responses modulated by tachykinin antagonists, and receptor localizations in guinea-pig and human brain tissues. Notable publications include 'Antidromic vasodilatation and neurogenic inflammation' (Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 1988; 205 citations), 'Experimental and clinical pharmacology: opioids-mechanisms of action' (Australian Prescriber, 1996; 156 citations), 'Modification by capsaicin and compound 48/80 of dye leakage induced by irritants in the rat' (British Journal of Pharmacology, 1977; 133 citations), 'The effects of bradykinin and prostaglandin E1 on rat cutaneous afferent nerve activity' (British Journal of Pharmacology, 1977; 122 citations), 'Local oedema and general excitation of cutaneous sensory receptors produced by electrical stimulation of the saphenous nerve in the rat' (Pain, 1976; 106 citations), 'Neurons expressing calcium-binding proteins in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia' (Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 2004; 88 citations), and more recent works such as 'Effects of neonatal treatment with the TRPV1 agonist, capsaicin, on adult rat brain and behaviour' (2014) and 'The Effect of the Trpv1 Agonist, Capsaicin, on the Developing Rat Brain: A Mini Review' (2020). With approximately 3,300 citations from 113 publications, his contributions have advanced knowledge of neuropeptides, ion channels, pain, inflammation, and psychiatric pathophysiology.