Felix Viana, MD-PhD, is Tenured Investigator of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) at the Institute of Neuroscience in Alicante. He is Co-Director of the Sensory Transduction and Nociception Group and coordinator of the Research Program on Chronic Pain and Inflammation. His research group has a long-standing interest in understanding the physiological roles of ion channels in neuronal excitability. In particular, his laboratory tries to understand how neurons sense external stimuli, focusing on the role played by different ion channels in thermosensation and pain. His laboratory pioneered the characterization of mammalian cold thermoreceptors and made important contributions to understanding the role of shaker-like potassium channels and leak potassium channels in their excitability. They are also interested in the pharmacology of ion channels, identifying novel modulators and studying their physiological impact. Much of the current work centres on TRPM8, TRPA1 and Piezo2 channels and their role in different chronic pain conditions.

At the institutional level, he made significant efforts to promote education and research in the field of ion channels. In 2007, and co-organized the first meeting of the Spanish Network of Ion Channels (RECI). He has been involved in the biennial organization of an International Workshop on Ion Channels and Transporters and other meetings on TRP channels. He has been very active in the Spanish Neuroscience Society where he served terms as Treasurer and Vice-President, and in other committees.

Currently, he serves on the editorial board of several journals, including Pain, Neurobiology of Pain, Journal of Neuroscience, Channels and Frontiers Molecular Neuroscience.