Newcastle University

Background

Undergraduate: BSc - Biochemistry and biological chemistry, Nottingham University, 1995
Postgraduate: PhD - Biochemistry and magnetic resonance. Cambridge University, 1999
Postdoc: Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida. 2000 - 2006

Research Interests

• Oxidative stress: development of novel techniques to image tissue glutathione content and metabolism
• Development and application of methods for non-invasive investigation of diabetic kidney disease
• Non-invasive measurement of muscle and liver glycogen content
• Real-time tracking of in vivo lipid handling
• Perturbed metabolism: development of methods to image change in tissue pH

These projects centre on the development of cutting-edge MR methodology, and application of these methods to pre-clinical models and/or clinical studies to investigate the changes in biochemistry and physiology associated with disease.

Grant funding

• MRC New Investigator Research Grant: In vivo monitoring of liver oxidative stress by magnetic resonance measurements of glutathione turnover. 2009-2012

Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre

I am a member of the Magnetic Resonance Physics Team at the Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, our research focuses on the application of cutting-edge MR imaging and spectroscopy methods to clinical research. We have a Philips 3T Achieva whole-body scanner equiped with multinuclear (13C, 31P, etc) capability, and a Varian 7T pre-clinical MR system.

• Stevenson EJ, Thelwall PE, Thomas K, Smith F, Brand-Miller JC, Trenell MI. Dietary glycemic index influences lipid oxidation but not muscle or liver glycogen oxidation during exercise. American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism 2009, 296(5), E1140-1147.
• Shepherd TM, Thelwall PE, Stanisz GJ, Blackband SJ. Aldehyde fixative solutions alter the water relaxation and diffusion properties of nervous tissue. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2009, 62(1), 26-34.
• Shepherd TM, Flint JJ, Thelwall PE, Stanisz GJ, Mareci TH, Yachnis AT, Blackband SJ. Postmortem interval alters the water relaxation and diffusion properties of rat nervous tissue - Implications for MRI studies of human autopsy samples. NeuroImage 2009, 44(3), 820-826.
• Hollingsworth KG, Jones DE, Aribisala BS, Thelwall PE, Taylor R, Newton JL, Blamire AM. Globus pallidus magnetisation transfer ratio, T1 and T2 in primary biliary cirrhosis: relationship with disease stage and age. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 2009, 29(4), 780-784.
• Thelwall PE. Detection of ¹⁷O-tagged phosphate by ³¹P MRS: A method with potential for in vivo studies of phosphorus metabolism. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2007, 57(6), 1168-1172.
• Thelwall PE, Yemin AY, Gillian TL, Simpson NE, Kasibhatla MS, Rabbani ZN, MacDonald JM, Blackband SJ, Gamcsik MP. Noninvasive In vivo Detection of Glutathione Metabolism in Tumors. Cancer Research 2005, 65(22), 10149-10153.
• Shepherd TM, Thelwall PE, Blackband SJ, Pike BR, Hayes RL, Wirth ED III. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging study of a rat hippocampal slice model for acute brain injury. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism 2003, 23(12), 1461-1470.
• Thelwall PE, Grant SC, Stanisz GJ, Blackband SJ. Human Erythrocyte Ghosts: Exploring the Origins of Multiexponential Water Diffusion in a Model Biological Tissue With Magnetic Resonance. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2002, 48(4), 649-657.
• Beauregard DA, Thelwall PE, Chaplin DJ, Hill SA, Adams GE, Brindle KM. Magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy of combretastatin A4 prodrug-induced disruption of tumour perfusion and energetic status. British Journal of Cancer 1998, 77(11), 1761-7.
• Thelwall PE, Simpson NE, Rabbani ZN, Clark MD, Pourdeyhimi R, Macdonald JM, Blackband SJ, Gamcsik MP. In vivo MR studies of glycine and glutathione metabolism in a rat mammary tumor. NMR in Biomedicine 2012, 25(2), 271-278.
• Lim EL, Hollingsworth KG, Smith FE, Thelwall PE, Taylor R. Effects of raising muscle glycogen synthesis rate on skeletal muscle ATP turnover rate in type 2 diabetes. American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism 2011, 301(6), E1155-E1162.
• Lim EL, Hollingsworth KG, Smith F, Thelwall P, Taylor R. Inhibition of lipolysis in type 2 diabetes normalizes glucose disposal without change in muscle glycogen synthesis rates. Clinical Science 2011, 121(4), 169-177.
• Thelwall PE, Taylor R, Marshall SM. Non-invasive Investigation of Kidney Disease in Type 1 Diabetes by Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Diabetologia 2011, 54(9), 2421-2429.
• Gamcsik M, Clark MD, Ludeman SM, Springer JB, D'Alessandro MA, Simpson NE, Pourdeyhimi R, Johnson CB, Teeter SD, Blackband SJ, Thelwall PE. Non-invasive Monitoring of L-2-Oxothiazolidine-4-Carboxylate Metabolism in the Rat Brain by In vivo C-13 Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. Neurochemical Research 2011, 36(3), 443-451.
• Smith FE, Cousins DA, Thelwall P, Ferrier IN, Blamire AM. Quantitative Lithium Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in the Normal Human Brain on a 3T Clinical Scanner. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2011, 66(4), 945-949.