Scientific Interests

I am a neuroscientist interested in

• The hippocampus and entorhinal cortex
• The role of neuronal Ca²⁺ homeostasis and its physiological and pathological relevance, especially for epilepsy.

I also teach, with Antony, on the Summer Physiology Course at the Marine Biological

Laboratory, in Woods Hole, MA, USA. (MBL home page) (See also Mbl Article). On the

course we use the sea urchin egg as a model system to study mechanisms of internal Ca²⁺

mobilisation.

Click here to discover some of the exciting things we did on the Course this year.

Since being in Antony's lab. some of my work has used this model to

investigate the mechanisms of Ca²⁺ mobilisation at fertilisation.(Fertilisation expts)

Part of the mechanism uses his pet molecule in his lab, cyclic ADP ribose(Chem Structure of cADPR).

This molecule may be the most important endogenous modulator of the release of Ca²⁺

from the intracellular stores via the ryanodine receptor, not only in the sea urchin but also

in mammalian systems. As a neuroscientist I my work has focussed on the role of cyclic

ADP ribose for the release of Ca²⁺ from the intracellular stores of neurones, during a

process known as Calcium Induced Calcium Release - or CICR.

Click here to see my latest publication (August 22^nd 1997 issue) - this will only work if you currently have a subscription to JBC online

Personal Info

After completing my degree in Biochemistry here in Oxford in 1988, I went to London to

St Mary's Hospital School of Medicine to do my Ph. D. with Dr. John Jefferys (now Prof.

Jefferys at Birmingham) on a model of epilepsy. It was there that I learnt my first

electrophysiology, in the hippocampus, and combined it with some neurochemical

measurements of the synaptic release of the inhibitory neurotransmitter, GABA.

Following my Ph.D. I went to Germany in 1993, for my first post doc to Prof. Uwe

Heinemann's lab, with an Exchange Program Fellowship from the Royal Society (for more

info on the Royal Society browse the Royal Society's Web Page). This lasted two years

during which time I worked in the University of Koln and also the Humboldt University in

Berlin. Berlin has to be one of the most vibrant of all European cities and is well

worth a visit. In Germany I became very interested in the electrophysiology and anatomy

of the entorhinal cortex and in particular in its connections with the hippocampus.

Returning from Germany I took another post doc as a Wellcome Trust research fellow in

my present lab in Oxford, where I have learnt some new techniques, in particular

fluorimetric Ca²⁺measurements combined with whole cell patch clamp. Now as a Beit Memorial

Fellow I am combining  my previous interests by looking at Ca²⁺ homeostasis during

epileptiform discharges in brain slices and slice cultures. The slice cultures are particularly

useful since they allow me to investigate the molecular consequences of the discharges

in particular the pathology associated with temporal lobe epilepsy.

In my spare time !

I am a member of the TA, more specifically of 5 (QOOH) Sqn in Banbury. QOOH stands for Queens Own

Oxfordshire Hussars, although other variants have been suggested ! We are a Signal Squadron with a National

Communications role using a fancy computerised form of HF radio. (click here for a Picture of the Squadron).

I also enjoy browsing the Web, hill walking and occasionally running and working out !

Here are some of my favourite Web sites