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Biography
I did my PhD at UCL under the supervision of Prof Kenneth Smith and Prof Michael Duchen, developing techniques to visualise the bioenergetic status of cortical tissues during systemic inflammation and hypoxemia. I then took up a postdoc position at King's College London with the late Prof Stephen McMahon, using in vivo microscopy to study spinal cord lamina I projection neurons and primary afferents in the peripheral nervous system. I am now an Anne McLaren Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham and my lab focuses on in vivo microscopy and chronic pain.
Research Summary
My research focuses on a better understanding of nervous system networks and their changes during states of chronic pain. I am particularly interested in changes in the peripheral nervous system… read more
Current Research
My research focuses on a better understanding of nervous system networks and their changes during states of chronic pain. I am particularly interested in changes in the peripheral nervous system which may drive central sensitization (a crucial player in chronic pain) and changes in spinal cord networks which may underpin different symptoms in chronic pain.
I am also interested in developing new ways to look at the peripheral and central nervous system, mostly through in vivo microscopy - a technique that allows the study of whole networks of cells simultaneously in an intact but anaesthetised animal. This provides a view into systems for which effective replacement models do not yet exist.
Current projects:
- Understanding lamina I projection neuron diversity and how it changes in chronic pain
- Astrocyte-neuron crosstalk and changes in chronic pain and neurodegenerative disorders
- VEGF splicing in chronic pain
Past Research
I have a long-standing interest in the use of in vivo microscopy to elucidate nervous system function and dysfunction. I am also interested in neuronal networks underpinning pain and sensation and have applied in vivo microscopy to the study of diverse peripheral and central nervous system structures important in chronic pain. I have used mostly intravital calcium imaging but am interested in other readouts of nervous system function, including fluorescent signatures of bioenergetics.
These and other techniques have allowed me to look at diverse pain and neurological conditions. For example, I have used in vivo microscopy to 1) study spinal cord lamina I projection neurons and their thermal encoding, 2) assess the effect of systemic temperature on the sympathetic nervous system, 3) understand the way bladder distention is encoded by our sensory nerves, 4) visualise the infiltration of immune cells into pathological spinal cord tissues, 5) assess the combined effect of hypoxemia and systemic inflammation on the bioenergetic status of the brain and 6) study the effects of neuromodulation on cortical excitability.