Raaj earned his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Randy D. Blakely’s lab at Vanderbilt University, studying how the dopamine transporter sculpts dopamine availability at the synapse and how these mechanisms go awry in neuropsychiatric disorders. Raaj then joined the laboratory of Dr. Michael R. Bruchas at the University of Washington for his postdoctoral research. There, as a NIDA K99 fellow, he discovered novel roles for neural circuits and neuropeptides in motivated behavior. Further, he developed and characterized novel optical tools, biosensors and opsins for neuromodulatory signaling. As the head of the Gowrishankar Lab, he aims to lead a research lab that continues to illuminate how neuropeptide signaling promotes motivated behavior.