School of Life Sciences
 

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Steve Alexander

Associate Professor of Molecular Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences

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Biography

I graduated with an Upper Second Class Honours Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Bath in 1982, following which I conducted a PhD in the Department of Pharmacology in the University of Bristol, graduating in 1986. I was a Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow at the Max-Planck Institute for Psychiatry (now the MPI for Neurobiology) in the Department of Neuromorphology, near Munich, Germany. I moved back to the UK to conduct a Postdoctoral role funded by the Wellcome Trust in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology of the University of Nottingham, In 1993, I was appointed as a Lecturer in that Department, and since then I have been promoted to Associate Professor in the School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham.

Expertise Summary

A major focus of my work has been the endogenous cannabinoid system, with particular attention on inflammation and pain. In this context, three of my most highly-cited publications investigated vasoactivity of anandamide (the first identified endocannabinoid), neuroprotection via cannabinoid activation of PPARα and the regulation of dopaminergic neurotransmission in the striatum. My central area of research concerns the pharmacology and biochemistry of G protein-coupled receptors (in particular, cannabinoid, adenosine and glutamate) in the CNS and peripheral tissues. I am interested in how activation of one of these classes of receptor leads to modification of the response to other receptor classes (cross-talk), as well as how different ligands can provoke different signalling profiles at the same receptor (agonist bias).

An additional focus of my research has been an investigation of enzymes (particularly those involved in turnover of endocannabinoids, hydrogen sulphide and cyclic nucleotides), as convergence points for signalling cross-talk, as well as quantifying enzyme activities ex vivo, for example, in pathological conditions or following drug exposure. I also investigate key enzymes as targets for drug discovery, generating high-throughput assays in vitro. A third area of research is the role of mitochondria in cell survival and/or toxicity following drug exposure or under substrate-limited conditions.

Although I have been described as a "disease agnostic", a recurring theme in recent years has been an association with the mechanisms of inflammation and its' resolution, in both nervous and peripheral tissues.

Beyond my immediate research

Research Summary

Research interests include the pharmacology and biochemistry of G protein-coupled receptors (particularly for adenosine, glutamate and cannabinoids) in isolated tissues and cultured cells; assay of… read more

Selected Publications

School of Life Sciences

University of Nottingham
Medical School
Queen's Medical Centre
Nottingham NG7 2UH

e: life-sciences@nottingham.ac.uk
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