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Our research by author
We conduct research in a wide range of biomedical topics.
Some of our researchers have provided brief introductions to their different areas of interest within the School.
Research briefings
Sebastian Amyes: There are no new antibiotics able to treat Acinetobacter baumannii infections so our work is examining how to preserve those that we have.
Catherina G Becker: Our group is using the amazing capacity of the zebrafish to regenerate their spinal cords and in particular motor neurons to elucidate the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying functional repair of the central nervous system.
Peter Brophy: We study how myelin permits rapid nerve conduction and how nerves are affected in demyelinating diseases of the human nervous system.
Mike Cousin: Our laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms that control both the endocytosis and recycling of synaptic vesicles. We also study how these basic processes are regulated by factors such as neuronal activity and protein / lipid phosphorylation.
Jamie Davies: We use organ culture, molecular biology, bioinformatics, synthetic biology and stem cell techniques to investigate mechanisms of tissue self-organization, for basic science and for regenerative medicine.
Michael Daw: We study the function and development of the thalamocortical system in neonatal rodents primarily using electrophysiological techniques.
Ian Duguid: Our research aims to understand the role of pre- and postsynaptic glutamate receptors during sensory information processing and motor learning in the cerebellum.
A Mark Evans: Our experimental, often anomalous, observations have led to the development of two distinct but related working hypotheses: (1) That AMP-activated protein kinase initiates calcium signals in highly specialised cells that serve to modulate respiratory function.(2) That a novel family of endolysosome targeted calcium release channels confer highly compartmentalised intracellular calcium signalling mechanisms that may differentially regulate of both microscopic and macroscopic cell functions.
Peter Flatman: Our work on the behaviour of salt transporting proteins and their control by a network of regulatory proteins should help develop more effective treatments for blood pressure problems by being tuned to a patient’s specific genetic profile.
Susan Fleetwood-Walker: Chronic pain is maintained by molecular changes within the nervous system that do not appear to occur after a brief painful event. Our aim is to clarify such alterations to help identify better analgesics.
Tom Gillingwater: We aim to understand why specific populations of neurons in the central and/or peripheral nervous systems are vulnerable to different neurodegenerative stimuli, with specific emphasis on events occurring in synaptic and axonal compartments.
Patrick Hadoke: My interests centre on the structure and function of the vascular wall in health and disease. My work also addresses the roles of endothelins, particulate pollution and stem cells in regulating these processes.
Andrew C Hall: We are interested in three research areas where a basic understanding of the role of the cells (chondrocytes) a wide range of disorders (including osteoarthritis and abnormalities of skeletal development) could help to identify novel approaches and treatments.
Giles E Hardingham: The research of my group focuses on understanding the signalling events that are triggered by activity in the NMDA type glutamate receptor, and their impact on neuronal survival and death.
Tony Harmar: We are exploring how the body’s circadian clock, located in two small groups of cells in the hypothalamus of the brain, drives daily rhythms of sleep and wakefulness, body temperature, hormone secretion, heart rate, digestion and drug metabolism.
Karen Horsburgh: The primary aim of the group is to understand the contribution of changes in the brains ‘wiring’ or white matter to age-related cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.
Mandy Jackson: The spinocerebellar ataxias are a group of debilitating and, in some cases, fatal neurological disorders characterized by loss of balance and motor coordination.Our aim is to unravel the physiological pathways underlying dysfunction and degeneration of the cerebellum.
Andrew Jarman: We study the relatively simple nervous system of a model organism - the fruit fly drosophila melanogaster. Using this model, we investigate the function of genes that are required for the correct formation of sensory neurons during development.
Paul Kelly: The overall aim of our work is to characterise the mechanisms by which both genetically-determined and environmentally-induced alterations in central serotonergic function might contribute to the aetiology of affective disorders.
Gareth Leng: We use computational models to help understand the neuroendocrine systems that we study experimentally.
Mike Ludwig: Neurons use more than 100 different peptides as chemical signals to communicate information, and these have a role in information processing that is quite unlike that of conventional neurotransmitters.
David Lyons: Disruption to myelin contributes to many human diseases including multiple sclerosis. We use the zebrafish as a model organism to study its formation.
John Mason: Research in our lab is aimed at unravelling the molecular mechanisms that govern the development of the mammalian brain during embryogenesis. Our research may help us to understand how certain human birth defects arise and could shed light on the origins of certain paediatric tumours.
Rory Mitchell: Our research focuses on novel modes of signal transduction by G protein-coupled receptors
Matthew Nolan: We use celltype specific manipulations of gene expression, electrophysiology, behavioural experiments and computational modelling to investigate the computations neurons carry out as they respond to signals from tens of thousands of upstream neurons.
Giuseppa Pennetta: We have generated a model for VAP-induced ALS8 in drosophila that recapitulates major hallmarks of the human disease. We intend to use this model to dissect the molecular mechanisms underlying ALS8 in humans.
Ian Poxton: Primary research interests in Clostridium difficile: microbiology, pathogenesis, host response and epidemiology.
Thomas Pratt: We use molecular biological approaches to understand how genes direct axonal growth in the developing mammalian brain.
David Price: The brain develops along similar lines in all mammals even though its size varies greatly between species. We study the functions of genes required for brain development by manipulating their expression in developing brains.
Anura Rambukkana: We are studying the molecular basis of adult tissue cell plasticity using an infection model and are developing strategies to induce plasticity as a means of reprogramming cells to neural progenitors or stem cell-like cells. Our studies also examine the role of bacterial-induced cell reprogramming in regulation of myelination process.
Richard R Ribchester: Our research focuses on neuromuscular junctions, the connections made between the axons of motor neurones and the muscles that produce our movements. We are trying to understand what factors sustain the function of neuromuscular junctions and to find out how we might prevent their loss in motor neurone disease.
Michael J Shipston: Examining the interplay of post-transcriptional mechanisms such as splicing and phosphorylation is revealing novel mechanisms to control K+ channel diversity and properties in health and diseases such as epilepsy, hypertension and obesity.
Martin Simmen: Our work seeks to map nucleosome positions, understand what dictates positioning, and generate predictive computational models of positioning.
Peter Simmonds: My principal research interest and focus has been in the evolution and epidemiology of virus infections, and interactions with their hosts.
Paul Skehel: By studying a particular mutated gene that causes an inherited form of motor neuron disease we hope to find clues about what molecular processes causes cells to degenerate and ultimately die.
Norah Spears: My research investigates female reproduction, with a specific focus on ovarian development and embryo implantation.
Thomas Theil: The cerebral cortex is responsible for all higher cognitive functions unique to humans and contains an enormous variety of neurons. We investigate the function of transcription factors and signalling systems required for the correct formation of the cortex.
Carole Torsney: We investigate the altered sensory processing or ‘plasticity’ that occurs in chronic pain conditions, with the aim of identifying novel therapies.
Sue Welburn: My research has focused on the interactions between parasites and their vectors and hosts that lead to transmission of human sleeping sickness, animal trypanosomiasis, and tick borne diseases.
John West: The adult corneal epithelium is maintained by stem cells in the limbus, at the junction between the cornea and conjunctiva. Humans and mice with reduced PAX6 levels show progressive corneal deterioration. We are investigating the causes of corneal abnormalities in PAX6- deficient mice.
David J A Wyllie: Neurons in the human brain communicate with each other at synapses by releasing chemicals which act on proteins that are adapted to undergo a conformational change that allows ions to pass through them. We record the tiny electrical signals that are generated during this process.
This article was published on Mar 26, 2013