Professor Nick Reynolds
Professor

  • Email: nick.reynolds@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 222 5840
  • Address: Institute of Cellular Medicine (Dermatology)
    2rd Floor, William Leech Building
    Medical School
    Newcastle University
    NE2 4HH

Qualifications

BSc (Intercalated) University of London, 1980
MBBS University of London, 1983
MD University of London, 1995
FRCP, Royal College of Physicians, London, 1999

Previous Positions

2001-present Professor of Dermatology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
2001-2004 Wellcome Trust Research Leave Fellowship for Clinical Academics
1995-2001 Senior Lecturer, University of Newcastle upon Tyne and
Consultant Dermatologist, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne
1993-1994 Senior Registrar, Department of Dermatology, Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle upon Tyne
1990-1992 Research Fellow and Lecturer, Department of Dermatology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
1987-1990 Registrar, Department of Dermatology, Bristol Royal Infirmary, Avon

Roles and Responsibilities 

Honorary Consultant Dermatologist, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
2008 - Board Member,  European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR)
2010 - Chair, British Association of Dermatologists Research Committee 
2011 - Chair, British Association of Dermatologists Biologic Interventions Register (BADBIR)
2012 - President-elect, European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR)
 

Research Interests

• Translational and systems biology research in dermatology and skin biology
• Keratinocyte cell signalling
• UV and wound healing signalling responses
• Psoriasis and mechanism of action of anti-psoriatic drugs
• Clinical trials, molecular genetics and disease models of atopic eczema

My laboratory is interested translatonal research of inflammatory skin disease (specifically atopic eczema and psoriasis).  There is a focus on keratinocyte cell signalling, particularly in response to environmental insults such as ultraviolet radiation, wounding and AhR receptor activation. We are interested in understanding the regulation of diverse cellular responses induced by UVR. These studies are supported by important collaborations with Professor Brian Diffey, Medical Physics, and Professor Peter Farr, Dermatology.

We also study the mechanism of action of anti-psoriatic therapies including UVR as we think this may provide important insights into disease pathogenesis and lead to the identification of new therapeutic targets. On-going studies focus on the induction of apoptosis by UVR in the clearance of psoriatic plaques, the interaction of calcineurin inhibitors (ciclosporin and tacrolimus) with the Ca2+/calcineurin/NFAT pathway in human keratinocytes, and the role of mitochondria in mediating the therapeutic action of dithranol in psoriasis.

We have conducted important investigator led clinical trials in atopic eczema and have contributed to increased understanding of the molecular genetics of atopic eczema. We have set up a skin equivalent model of atopic eczema which we are using to investigate therapeutic targets.

Postgraduate Supervision

yes

Funding

Wellcome Trust
MRC
BBSRC (CASE) with AstraZeneca and GSK
Knowledge Transfer Partership (KTP) with Stiefel, a GSK company
Psoriasis Association
Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) 

 

We place a strong emphasis on undergraduate teaching and postgraduate training.  We run an active weekly programme both within ICM and dermatology (clinical and basic science journal clubs, research in progress meetings) and play a key role in the MRes in Medical and Molecular Biosciences. 

Many of our clinical trainees pursue higher research degrees funded through external nationally funded fellowships (Wellcome, MRC, Action Medical Research, British Skin foundation) and our PhD students have secured fellowships (European Commission) and post-doctoral positions  (eg Khavari lab, Stanford; Buck Institute, San Francisco; NIH, Bethesda; University of Chicago).  In 2006/2007 we were one of only three units in England and Wales to be awarded academic clinical fellowships in dermatology through a national competition and a Walport/NIHR Lectureship was recently established.

Since 2008, three of our clinical trainees have gone on to secure prestigious Wellcome Intermediate Fellowships, one in Dundee and two in Newcastle.

Dermatology is one of six priority areas supported through a Wellcome Clinical Research Training Fellowship Scheme in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at Newcastle University which provides up to four fellowships per year for the next five years.   This scheme is designed principally to provide training for clinicians in translational research to PhD level in Newcastle.