Ram Kandasamy, PhD Faculty Profile

Photo of Ram Kandasamy

Ram  Kandasamy, PhD

Associate Professor

Department of Psychology

Dr. Kandasamy is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at 91吃瓜, where he has been a faculty member since 2019 and was awarded early tenure and promotion in 2024. At Cal State 91吃瓜, Dr. Kandasamy teaches courses including Physiological Psychology (PSYC 320), Experimental Psychology (PSYC 300), Drugs and Behavior (PSYC 420), and Research in Physiological Psychology (PSYC 491B), and serves as a major advisor. Dr. Kandasamy currently leads two active research projects both funded by the National Institutes of Health focused on developing non-opioid treatments for chronic pain, including the evaluation of multitarget enzyme inhibitors for orofacial and inflammatory pain. His research integrates behavioral neuroscience, pharmacology, and translational pain models and actively involves undergraduate students at every stage. Many of his trainees have published, received national recognition, and presented their work at professional conferences.

Dr. Kandasamy has published extensively with his students and co-authored book chapters on pain mechanisms, measurement, and therapies. He has served on multiple national review panels and professional committees, including executive roles within the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET), the North American Pain School, and as a member of the Faculty Consensus Group of CSUBIOTECH, where he contributes to system-wide efforts supporting biotechnology research and education across the CSU.

Dr. Kandasamy served as the Faculty Fellow for the Center for Student Research from 2022-2025 and served as its Interim Director in Summer 2023. He is currently the Principal Investigator of the university’s Beckman Scholars Program, funded by the Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation. His leadership is rooted in undergraduate research, with a strong emphasis on mentorship and student development.

Dr. Kandasamy earned his B.S. in Neuroscience and Psychology, magna cum laude, from Washington State University in Pullman, WA, where he studied sex differences in cannabinoid analgesia with Dr. Rebecca Craft. He completed his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Washington State University in Vancouver, WA, under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Morgan, pioneering a novel behavioral measure of pain and analgesia using wheel running in rodents. He later trained as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Michigan Medical School with Dr. John Traynor, where he examined the analgesic and abuse-related properties of opioid drugs.

Prospective CSUEB students interested in hands-on neuroscience research focused on pain and analgesia are encouraged to contact Dr. Kandasamy directly to explore opportunities in his lab.

  • BS (2012), Neuroscience, Psychology; Washington State University (Pullman, WA); Mentor: R. Craft
  • PhD (2017), Neuroscience; Washington State University (Vancouver, WA); Mentor: M. Morgan
  • Postdoc (2019), Pharmacology; University of Michigan Medical School (Ann Arbor, MI); Mentor: J. Traynor

Not teaching this semester.


  1. Carr D.F,UG (Nursing '23), Gunari S.F,UG (Speech Pathology and Audiology '25), Gorostiza G.PB (PHAP '24), Mercado M.UG (Biological Sciences '27), Pavana L.UG (Biological Sciences '24), Duong L., Gomez K., Salinas S., Garcia G., Tsang A., Morisseau C., Hammock B.D., Pecic S.C, Kandasamy R.C (2025). Synthesis and evaluation of isoquinolinyl and pyridinyl-based dual inhibitors of fatty acid amide hydrolase and soluble epoxide hydrolase to alleviate orofacial hyperalgesia in the rat. Biochemistry and Biophysics Reports, 42, 102009. PMID: 40275962.
  2. Yuan C., Tsang A., Berumen M., Rodriguez A., Yun F., Mesic A., Olivares A., Dubon L., Nguyen A., Pavana L.UG (Biological Sciences '24), Mercado M.UG (Biological Sciences '27), Gorostiza G.PB (PHAP '24), Morisseau C., Hammock B.D., Kandasamy R.C, Pecic S.C (2025). Structure-activity relationship studies and pharmacological evaluation of 4-phenylthiazoles as dual soluble epoxide hydrolase/fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitors. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry. 121, 118112. PMID: 39983408.
  3. Carr D.F,UG (Nursing '23), Chin C. F,UG (Psychology '22), Chacon T. UG (Health Sciences '24), Khoja Herawi M. UG (Biological Sciences '24), Gonzalez M., West R., Morisseau C., Hammock B.D., Pecic S.C, Kandasamy R.C (2024). 4-phenyl-thiazole-based dual inhibitors of fatty acid amide hydrolase and soluble epoxide hydrolase do not alleviate orofacial inflammatory pain in female rats. BBA Advances, 6:100119. PMID: 39246819.
  4. Angelia J., Duong L., Yun F., Mesic A., Yuan C.UG (Biological Sciences '23), Carr D.UG (Nursing '23), Gunari S.UG (Speech Pathology and Audiology '25), Hudson P.K., Morisseau C., Hammock B.D., Kandasamy R.C, Pecic SC. (2024). Quinolinyl-based multitarget-directed ligands with soluble epoxide hydrolase and fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitory activities: synthetic studies and pharmacological evaluations. Heliyon, 10 (11), e32262. PMID: 38912512.
  5. Morgan M.M., Hilgendorf T.N.UG, Kandasamy R. (2023). Continuous fentanyl administration and spontaneous withdrawal decreases home cage wheel running in rats with and without hindpaw inflammation. Physiology and Behavior, 272. PMID: 37820887.
  6. Olson K.M., Devereaux A.L., Chatterjee P., Saldaña-Shumaker S.L., Shafer A., Plotkin A., Kandasamy R., MacKerell Jr. A.D., Traynor J.R., Cunningham C.W. (2023). Nitro-benzylideneoxymorphone, a bifunctional mu and delta opioid receptor ligand with high mu opioid receptor efficacy. Frontiers in Pharmacology, 14. PMID: 37469877.
  7. Angelia J., Weng X., Solomatov A., Chin C.UG (Psychology '22), Fernandez A.PB (PHAP '22), Hudson P.K., Morisseau C., Hammock B.D., Kandasamy R.C, Pecic SC. (2023). Structure-activity relationship studies of benzothiazole-phenyl analogs as multi-target ligands to alleviate pain without affecting normal behavior. Prostaglandins and Other Lipid Mediators, 164. PMID: 36529320
  8. Wilt S., Kodani S., Valencia L., Hudson P.K., Sanchez S.UG (Biological Sciences '23), Quintana T.UG (Psychology, Biological Sciences '22), Morisseau C., Hammock B.D., Kandasamy R.C, Pecic SC. (2021). Further exploration of the structure-activity relationship of dual soluble epoxide hydrolase/fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitors. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, 51, 116507. PMID: 34794001
  9. Rodriguez C.E.B.F,UG (Psychology '20), Ouyang L.F,UG (Biological Sciences '23), Kandasamy R.C (2021). Antinociceptive effects of minor cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids in Cannabis. Behavioural Pharmacology, in press. PMID: 33709984
  10. Kandasamy R.F, Hillhouse T.M.F, Livingston K.E., Kochan K.E., Meurice C., Eans. S.O., Li M., White A.D., Roques B.P., McLaughlin J.P., Ingram S.L., Burford N.T., Alt A., Traynor J.R. (2021). Positive allosteric modulation of the mu-opioid receptor produces analgesia with reduced side-effects. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(16), e2000017118. PMID: 33846420
  11. Kandasamy R.C and Morgan M.M. (2021). “Reinventing the wheel” to advance the development of pain therapeutics. Behavioural Pharmacology, 32(2&3), 142-152. PMID: 33079736
  12. Senese N.B., Kandasamy R., Kochan K.E., Traynor J.R. (2020). Regulator of G-Protein Signaling (RGS) Protein Modulation of Opioid Receptor Signaling as a Potential Target for Pain Management. Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, 13:5. PMID: 32028168
  13. Stanczyk M.A. and Kandasamy R. (2018). Biased agonism: The quest for the analgesic holy grail. PAIN Reports, 3(3), e650. PMID: 29922742
  14. Kandasamy R., Dawson C.T.UG, Hilgendorf T.N.UG, Morgan M.M. (2018). Medication overuse headache following repeated morphine, but not ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol administration in the female rat. Behavioural Pharmacology, 29(5), 469-472. PMID: 29462111
  15. Kandasamy R., Dawson C.T.UG, Craft, R.M., Morgan M.M. (2018). Anti-migraine effect of ∆9-tetrahydrocannabinol in the female rat. European Journal of Pharmacology, 818, 271-277. PMID: 29111112
  16. Kandasamy R., Lee A.T.UG, Morgan M.M. (2017). Depression of home cage wheel running is an objective measure of spontaneous morphine withdrawal in rats with and without persistent pain. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 156, 10-15. PMID: 28366799
  17. Kandasamy R., Lee A.T.UG, Morgan M.M. (2017). Depression of home cage wheel running: a reliable and clinically relevant method to assess migraine pain in rats. The Journal of Headache and Pain, 18(1):5, 1-8. PMID: 28091820
  18. Kandasamy R., Calsbeek J.J.UG, Morgan M.M. (2017). Analysis of inflammation-induced depression of home cage wheel running in rats reveals the difference between opioid antinociception and restoration of function. Behavioural Brain Research, 317, 502-507. PMID: 27746208
  19. Kandasamy R., Calsbeek J.J.UG, Morgan M.M. (2016). Home cage wheel running is an objective and clinically relevant method to assess inflammatory pain in male and female rats. Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 263, 115-122.PMID: 26891874
  20. Kandasamy R. and Price T.J. (2015). The pharmacology of nociceptor priming. In Pain Control (Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology) 15-37. Ed. H-G Schaible, Springer Berlin Heidelberg. PMID: 25846612
  21. Craft R.M., Kandasamy R., Davis S.M. (2013). Sex differences in anti-allodynic, anti-hyperalgesic and anti-edema effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol in the rat. PAIN, 154(9), 1709-1717. PMID: 23707295

UG = undergraduate co-author

PB = postbaccalaureate co-author

F = co-first author

C = corresponding author