Wesley Raup-Konsavage, PhD

I joined the Department of Pharmacology (now Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics) in 2017, where I helped establish what has become the Penn State Center for Cannabis & Natural Product Pharmaceutics (CCNPP), of which I am currently the director. Since transitioning to the tenure-track faculty in 2024, my laboratory has grown into an interdisciplinary research program centered on understanding how cannabinoids and other natural products regulate inflammation, pain, and disease, while developing new therapeutic strategies for conditions with significant unmet clinical needs. Our research is highly translatable and has lead to clinical trials for minor phytocannabinoids.

Our laboratory currently focuses on four major research areas:

• Cannabinoid receptor biology and immune regulation. We investigate how activation of the CB2 receptor regulates innate and adaptive immune responses during inflammation, with a particular emphasis on defining how naturally occurring variants impact activity.

• Inflammation and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Using acute and chronic murine models of ulcerative colitis, we study how phytocannabinoids and hemp extracts modulate intestinal inflammation, immune cell recruitment, and epithelial repair.

• Neuroimmune mechanisms of inflammatory pain. We use the formalin assay as an in vivo model of inflammatory pain to investigate how cannabinoids attenuate both peripheral inflammation and central pain sensitization. Our work integrates behavioral pharmacology with receptor pharmacology to define the contribution of CB2 and other signaling pathways to inflammatory pain.

• Cannabinoids and natural products for pain. Beyond inflammatory pain, we also more broadly study the potential of phytocannabinoids, as well as other medicinal plants, as novel analgesic compounds.

• Transcriptional regulation of cannabinoid signaling. We investigate the molecular mechanisms controlling expression of the cannabinoid receptors (CNR1 and CNR2), with particular interest in how inflammatory signaling alters receptor transcription and how receptor expression influences responsiveness to cannabinoid therapeutics.

• Phytocannabinoid discovery and transcriptional screening. Our laboratory has assembled a comprehensive library of purified phytocannabinoids and hemp-derived compounds that is used to identify novel biological activities beyond classical GPCR signaling. Using transcriptional reporter assays and high-throughput screening approaches, we identify phytocannabinoids that regulate transcription factor activity and gene expression.

One aspect of our laboratory that I particularly enjoy is its interdisciplinary nature. Depending on their project, students may gain experience with molecular cloning, promoter analysis, gene expression, cell culture, immune assays, animal models of pain and inflammatory bowel disease, pharmacology, natural product chemistry, microbiome studies, or bioinformatics. We also collaborate extensively across Penn State and with external institutions, allowing students to interact with investigators from diverse scientific backgrounds and gain exposure to techniques that extend beyond our own laboratory.

As a mentor, I value curiosity, scientific rigor, independence, and collaboration. I believe students learn best when they are encouraged to think critically, ask questions, and take ownership of their projects while receiving the support they need to succeed. My goal is not simply to train students to perform experiments, but to help them become thoughtful, creative, and independent scientists capable of developing their own research programs. Because science is a team effort, I also emphasize collaboration, open communication, and creating an environment where everyone contributes to one another's success.